LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 


PRESENTED  BY 

Mr.    H.    H.    Killani 


P3B  CIBRAKV, 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/deputyforarcisOObalziala 


H.    DE    BALZAC 


THE   COMEDIE    HUMAINE 


HE  WALKED  ROUND  HIS  GARDEN,  HE  LOOKED  AT  THE 
WEATHER. 


H.    DE    BALZAC 


THE 

DEPUTY    FOR   ARCIS 


PART  I 


TKAK8LATED  BY 


CLARA   BELL 


WITH  A.  PBEFACK  BY 


GEORGE  SAINTSBURY 


^ 


PHILADELPHIA 

The  Gebbie  Publishing  Co.,  Ltd. 
1899 


CONTENTS 


FAGB 

PREFACE i, 

THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS— 

I.   THE   ELECTION j 

II.   EDIFYING  LETTERS il\ 

III.   THE  COMTE   DE  SALLENAUVE jcg 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


HE   WALKED   ROUND   HIS   GARDEN,  HE   LOOKED   AT  THE  WEATHER 

(p.  59) Frontispiece. 

PAGB 
THIS   TIME   HE  WAS   WOUNDED I26 

BEAUVISAGE STANDING   ON    THE    BRIDGE,   HAPPENED    TO    RE- 
MARK  THE   DAMSEL 237 

LUCAS   OPENED  THE   DOOR   TO    SHOW   IN — "MONSIEUR   PHILIPPE"      328 

"  GOOD-EVENING,   LADIES  " 374 

Drawn  by  %  Ayton  Symington. 


PREFACE. 

"Le  DifepuTE  d'Arcis,"  like  the  still  less  generally  known 
"Les  Petits  Bourgeois,"  stands  on  a  rather  different  footing 
from  the  rest  of  Balzac's  work.  Both  were  posthumous,  and 
both,  having  been  left  unfinished,  were  completed  by  the 
author's  friend,  Charles  Rabou.  Rabou  is  not  much  known 
nowadays  as  a  man  of  letters ;  he  must  not  be  confused  with 
the  writer  Hippolyte  Babou,  the  friend  of  Baudelaire,  the 
reputed  inventor  of  the  title  "  Fleurs  du  Mai,"  and  the 
author  of  some  very  acute  articles  in  the  great  collection  of 
Crepet's  "  Poetes  Fran^ais."  But  he  figures  pretty  frequently 
in  association  of  one  kind  or  another  with  Balzac,  and  would 
appear  to  have  been  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  scheme  and 
spirit  of  the  Comedie.  At  the  same  time,  it  does  not  appear 
that  even  the  indefatigable  and  most  competent  M.  de  Loven- 
joul  is  perfectly  certain  where  Balzac's  labors  end  and  those 
of  Rabou  begin. 

It  would  seem,  however  (and  certainly  internal  evidence 
has  nothing  to  say  on  the  other  side),  that  the  severance,  or 
rather  the  junction,  must  have  taken  place  somewhere  about 
the  point  where,  after  the  introduction  of  Maxime  de  Trailles, 
the  interest  suddenly  shifts  altogether  from  the  folk  of  Arcis 
and  the  conduct  of  their  election  to  the  hitherto  unknown 
Comte  de  Sallenauve.  It  would,  no  doubt,  be  possible,  and 
even  easy,  to  discover  in  Balzac's  undoubted  work — for  in- 
stance, in  "  Le  Cure  de  Village  "  and  "  Illusions  Perdues  " — 
instances  of  shiftings  of  interest  nearly  as  abrupt  and  of 
changes  in  the  main  centre  of  the  story  nearly  as  decided. 
Nor  is  it  possible,  considering  the  weakness  of  constructive 
finish  which  always  marked  Balzac,  to  rule  out  offhand  the 
substitution,  after  an  unusually  lively  and  business-like  begin- 

(ix) 


X  FKEFACE. 

ning,  of  the  nearly  always  frigid  scheme  of  letters,  topped  up 
with  a  conclusion  in  which,  with  very  doubtful  art,  as  many 
personages  of  the  Comedie,  and  even  direct  references  to  as 
many  of  its  books  as  possible,  are  dragged  in.  But  it  is  as 
nearly  as  possible  certain  that  he  would  never  have  left  things 
in  such  a  condition,  and  I  do  not  even  think  that  he  would 
ever  have  arranged  them  in  quite  the  same  state,  even  as  an 
experiment. 

The  book  belongs  to  the  Champenois  or  Arcis-sur-Aube 
series,  which  is  so  brilliantly  followed  by  "  Une  Tenebreuse 
Affaire."  It  is  curious  and  worth  notice,  as  showing  the  con- 
scientious fashion  in  which  Balzac  always  set  about  his  mature 
work,  that  though  his  provincial  stories  are  taken  from  parts 
of  France  widely  distant  from  one  another,  the  selection  is 
by  no  means  haphazard,  and  arranges  itself  with  ease  into 
groups  corresponding  to  certain  haunts  or  sojourns  of  the 
author.  There  is  the  Loire  group,  furnished  by  his  youthful 
remembrances  of  Tours  and  Saumur,  and  by  later  ones  down 
to  the  Breton  coast.  There  is  the  group  of  which  Alen^on 
and  the  Breton-Norman  frontiers  are  the  field,  and  the  scenery 
of  which  was  furnished  by  early  visits  of  which  we  know  little, 
but  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  which  is  of  the  first  impor- 
tance, as  having  given  birth  to  the  "  Chouans,"  and  so  to  the 
whole  Comedie  in  a  way.  There  is  the  Angoumois-Limousin 
group,  for  which  he  informed  himself  during  his  frequent 
visits  to  the  Carraud  family.  And  lastly,  there  is  one  of 
rather  wider  extent,  and  not  connected  with  so  definite  a 
centre,  but  including  the  Morvan,  Upper  Burgundy,  and 
part  of  Champagne,  which  seems  to  have  been  commended 
to  him  by  his  stay  at  Sache  and  other  places.  This  was  his 
latest  set  of  studies,  and  to  this  "Le  Depute  d'Arcis"  of 
course  belongs.  To  round  off  the  subject,  it  is  noteworthy 
that  no  part  of  the  coast  except  a  little  in  the  north,  with  the 
remarkable  exceptions  of  the  scenes  of  "La  Recherche  de 
I'Absolu"  and  one  or  two  others;  nothing  in  the  greater  part 


PREFACE.  ri 

of  Brittany  and  Normandy ;  nothing  in  Guienne,  Gascony, 
Languedoc,  Provence,  or  Dauphine,  seems  to  have  attracted 
him.  Yet  some  of  these  scenes — and  with  some  of  them  he 
had  meddled  in  the  Days  of  Ignorance — are  the  most  tempt- 
ing of  any  in  France  to  the  romancer,  and  his  abstention  from 
them  is  one  of  the  clearest  proofs  of  his  resolve  to  speak  only 
of  that  he  did  know. 

The  certainly  genuine  part  of  the  present  book  is,  as  cer- 
tainly, not  below  anything  save  his  very  best  work.  It  be- 
longs, indeed,  to  the  more  minute  and  "meticulous"  part  of 
that  work,  not  to  the  bolder  and  more  ambitious  side.  There 
is  no  Goriot,  no  Eugenie  Grandet,  not  even  any  Corentin  or 
Vautrin,  hardly  so  much  as  a  Rastignac  about  it.  But  the 
good  little  people  of  Arcis-sur-Aube  are  represented  "  in  their 
natural,"  as  Balzac's  great  compatriot  would  have  said,  with 
extraordinary  felicity  and  force.  The  electoral  meeting  in 
Madame  Marions'  house  is  certainly  one  of  the  best  things  in 
the  whole  Comedie  for  completeness  within  its  own  limits, 
and  none  of  the  personages,  official  or  other,  can  be  said  to 
suffer  from  that  touch  of  exaggeration  which,  to  some  tastes, 
interferes  with  the  more  celebrated  and  perhaps  rnore  generally 
attractive  delineations  of  Parisian  journalism  in  "Illusions 
Perdues  "  and  similar  books.  In  fact,  in  what  he  wrote  of 
"Le  Depute  d'Arcis,"  Balzac  seems  to  have  had  personal 
knowledge  to  go  upon,  without  any  personal  grievances  to 
revenge  or  any  personal  crazes  to  enforce.  The  latter,  it  is 
true,  often  prompted  his  sublimest  work;  but  the  former 
frequently  helped  to  produce  his  least  successful.  In  "Le 
Depute  d'Arcis"  he  is  at  the  happy  mean.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  give  an  elaborate  bibliography  of  it ;  for,  as  has  been 
said,  only  the  "Election"  part  is  certainly  Balzac's.  This 
appeared  in  a  newspaper,  "L'Union  Monarchique,"  for  April 
and  May  1847. 

G.  S. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

'-'  PART  I. 

THE   ELECTION. 

Before  entering  on  a  study  of  a  country  election,  I  need 
hardly  say  that  the  town  of  Arcis-sur-Aube  was  not  the  scene 
of  the  events  to  be  related.  The  district  of  Arcis  votes  at 
Bar-sur-Aube,  which  is  fifteen  leagues  away  from  Arcis;  so 
there  is  no  member  for  Arcis  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies. 
The  amenities  demanded  by  the  history  of  contemporary 
manners  require  this  precaution.  It  is  perhaps  an  ingenious 
notion  to  describe  one  town  as  the  setting  for  a  drama  played 
out  in  another ;  indeed,  the  plan  has  been  already  adopted  in 
the  course  of  this  Human  Comedy,  in  spite  of  the  drawback 
that  it  often  makes  the  frame  as  elaborate  as  the  picture. 

Toward  the  end  of  April,  1839,  at  about  ten  in  the  morning, 
a  strange  appearance  was  presented  by  Madame  Marion's 
drawing-room — the  lady  was  the  widow  of  a  revenue  collector 
in  the  department  of  the  Aube.  Nothing  remained  in  it  of 
all  the  furniture  but  the  window-curtains,  the  chimney  hang- 
ings and  ornaments,  the  chandelier,  and  the  tea-table.  The 
Aubusson  carpet,  taken  up  a  fortnight  sooner  than  was  neces- 
sary, encumbered  the  balcony  steps,  and  the  parquet  had  been 
energetically  rubbed  without  looking  any  the  brighter. 

This  was  a  sort  of  domestic  forecast  of  the  coming  elections, 
for  which  preparations  were  being  made  over  the  whole  face  of 
the  country.  Things  are  sometimes  as  humorous  as  men.  This 
is  an  argument  in  favor  of  the  occult  sciences. 

An  old  manservant,  attached  to  Colonel  Giguet,  Madame 

(1) 


2  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

Marion's  brother,  had  just  finished  sweeping  away  the  dust 
that  had  lodged  between  the  boards  in  the  course  of  the 
winter.  The  housemaid  and  cook,  with  a  nimble  zeal  that 
showed  as  much  enthusiasm  as  devotion,  were  bringing  down 
all  the  chairs  in  the  house  and  piling  them  in  the  garden.  It 
must  be  explained  that  the  trees  already  displayed  large 
leaves,  between  which  the  sky  smiled  cloudless.  Spring 
breezes  and  May  sunshine  allowed  of  the  glass  doors  and 
windows  being  thrown  open  from  the  drawing-room,  a  room 
longer  than  it  was  wide. 

The  old  lady,  giving  her  orders  to  the  two  women,  desired 
them  to  place  the  chairs  in  four  rows  with  a  space  of  about 
three  feet  between.  In  a  few  minutes  there  were  ten  chairs 
across  the  rows,  a  medley  of  various  patterns  ;  a  line  of  chairs 
was  placed  along  the  wall  in  front  of  the  windows.  At  the 
end  of  the  room  opposite  the  forty  chairs  Madame  Marion 
placed  three  armchairs  behind  the  tea-table,  which  she  covered 
with  a  green  cloth,  and  on  it  placed  a  bell. 

Old  Colonel  Giguet  appeared  on  the  scene  of  the  fray  just 
as  it  had  occurred  to  his  sister  that  she  might  fill  up  the  recess 
on  each  side  of  the  chimney-place  by  bringing  in  two  benches 
from  the  anteroom,  in  spite  of  the  baldness  of  the  velvet,  which 
had  seen  four-and-twenty  years'  service. 

"  We  can  seat  seventy  persons,"  said  she,  with  exultation. 

*'  God  send  us  seventy  friends  !  "  replied  the  colonel. 

"  If,  after  receiving  all  the  society  of  Arcis-sur-Aube  every 
evening  for  twenty-four  years,  even  one  of  our  usual  visitors 
should  fail  us — well !  "  said  the  old  lady  in  a  threatening 
tone. 

"Come,"  said  the  colonel  with  a  shrug,  as  he  interrupted 
his  sister,  '*  I  can  name  ten  who  cannot — who  ought  not  to 
come.  To  begin  with,"  said  he,  counting  on  his  fingers: 
"  Antonin  Goulard,  the  sub-prefect,  for  one  ;  the  public  pros- 
ecutor, Frederic  Marest,*  for  another  ;  Monsieur  Olivier  Vinet, 
*  See  "A  Start  in  Life." 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR   ARCIS.  3 

his  deputy,  three;  Monsieur  Martener,  the  examining  judge, 
four;  the  justice  of  the  peace " 

"But  I  am  not  so  silly,"  the  old  lady  interrupted  in  her 
turn,  **  as  to  expect  that  men  who  hold  appointments  should 
attend  a  meeting  of  which  the  purpose  is  to  return  one  more 
deputy  to  the  Opposition.  At  the  same  time,  Antonin  Gou- 
lard, Simon's  playfellow  and  schoolmate,  would  be  very  glad 
to  see  him  in  the  Chamber,  for " 

*'  Now,  my  good  sister,  leave  us  men  to  manage  our  own 
business.     Where  is  Simon?" 

"  He  is  dressing.  He  was  very  wise  not  to  come  to  break- 
fast, for  he  is  very  nervous ;  and  though  our  young  lawyer  is 
in  the  habit  of  speaking  in  court,  he  dreads  this  meeting  as 
much  as  if  he  had  to  face  his  enemies." 

"  My  word !  Yes.  I  have  often  stood  the  fire  of  a  battery 
and  my  soul  never  quaked — my  body  I  say  nothing  about ; 
but  if  I  had  to  stand  up  here,"  said  the  old  soldier,  placing 
himself  behind  the  table,  "opposite  the  forty  good  people 
who  will  sit  there,  open-mouthed,  their  eyes  fixed  on  mine, 
and  expecting  a  set  speech  in  sounding  periods — my  shirt 
would  be  soaking  before  I  could  find  a  word." 

"And  yet,  my  dear  father,  you  must  make  that  effort  on 
my  behalf,"  said  Simon  Giguet,  coming  in  from  the  little 
drawing-room ;  "  for  if  there  is  a  man  in  the  department 
whose  word  is  powerful,  it  is  certainly  you.     In  1815 " 

"  In  1815,"  said  the  particularly  well-preserved  little  man, 
"  I  had  not  to  speak  \  I  merely  drew  up  a  little  proclamation 
which  raised  two  thousand  men  in  twenty-four  hours.  And 
there  is  a  great  difference  between  putting  one's  name  at  the 
bottom  of  a  broadsheet  and  addressing  a  meeting.  Napoleon 
himself  would  have  lost  at  that  game.  On  the  i8th  Brumaire* 
he  talked  sheer  nonsense  to  the  Five  Hundred." 

"But,  my  dear  father,  my  whole  life  is  at  stake,  my  pros- 
pects, my  happiness Just  look  at  one  person  only,  and 

*  The  date  of  the  overthrow  of  the  Directory  by  Bonaparte. 


4  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

fancy  you  are  speaking  to  him  alone — you  will  get  through  it 
all  right." 

"Mercy  on  us !  I  am  only  an  old  woman,"  said  Madame 
Marion  ;  "  but  in  such  a  case,  and  if  I  knew  what  it  was  all 
about — why,  I  could  be  eloquent  !  " 

"Too  eloquent,  perhaps,"  said  the  colonel.  "And  to 
shoot  beyond  the  mark  is  not  to  hit  it.  But  what  is  in  the 
wind?"  he  added,  addressing  his  son.  "For  the  last  two 
days  you  have  connected  this  nomination  with  some  no- 
tion      If  my  son  is  not  elected,  so  much  the  worse  for 

Arcis,  that's  all." 

These  words,  worthy  of  a  father,  were  quite  in  harmony 
with  the  whole  life  of  the  speaker. 

Colonel  Giguet,  one  of  the  most  respected  officers  in  the 
Grande  Armee,  was  one  of  those  admirable  characters  which 
to  a  foundation  of  perfect  rectitude  add  great  delicacy  of 
feeling.  He  never  thrust  himself  forward ;  honors  came  to 
seek  him  out ;  hence  for  eleven  years  he  had  remained  a 
captain  in  the  Artillery  of  the  Guards,  rising  to  command  a 
battalion  in  1813,  and  promoted  major  in  1814.  His  almost 
fanatical  attachment  to  Napoleon  prohibited  his  serving  the 
Bourbons  after  the  Emperor's  first  abdication.  And  in  1815 
his  devotion  was  so  conspicuous  that  he  would  have  been 
banished  but  for  the  Comte  de  Gondreville,  who  had  his  name 
erased  from  the  list,  and  succeeded  in  getting  him  a  retiring 
pension  and  the  rank  of  colonel. 

Madame  Marion,  nee  Giguet,  had  had  another  brother  who 
was  colonel  of  the  Gendarmes  at  Troyes,  and  with  whom  she 
had  formerly  lived.  There  she  had  married  Monsieur  Marion, 
receiver-general  of  the  revenues  of  the  department. 

A  brother  of  the  late  lamented  Marion  was  presiding  judge 
of  one  of  the  Imperial  courts.  While  still  a  pleader  at  Arcis 
this  lawyer  had,  during  the  "Terror,"  lent  his  name  to  the 
famous  Malin  (deputy  for  the  Aube),  a  representative  of  the 
people,  to  enable  him  to  purchase  the  estate  of  Gondreville. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  5 

Marion,  the  receiver-general,  had  inherited  the  property  of 
his  brother  the  judge  ;  Madame  Marion  came  in  for  that  of 
her  brother.  Colonel  Giguet  of  the  Gendarmes.  In  1814 
Monsieur  Marion  suffered  some  reverses ;  he  died  at  about 
the  same  time  as  theJEmpire,  and  his  widow  was  able  to  make 
up  fifteen  thousand  francs  a  year  from  the  wreck  of  these  fag- 
ends  of  fortunes.  Giguet  of  the  Gendarmes  had  left  all  his 
little  wealth  to  his  sister  on  hearing  of  his  brother's  marriage, 
in  1806,  to  one  of  the  daughters  of  a  rich  Hamburg  banker. 
The  admiration  of  all  Europe  for  Napoleon's  magnificent 
troopers  is  well  known. 

In  1 81 4  Madame  Marion,  in  very  narrow  circumstances, 
came  to  live  at  Arcis,  her  native  town,  where  she  bought  a 
house  in  the  Grande  Place,  one  of  the  handsomest  residences 
in  the  town,  on  a  site  suggesting  that  it  had  formerly  been 
dependent  on  the  castle.  Being  used  to  entertain  a  great 
deal  at  Troyes,  where  the  revenue-collector  was  a  person  of 
importance,  her  drawing-room  was  open  to  the  prominent 
members  of  the  Liberal  circle  at  Arcis.  A  woman  who  is 
used  to  the  position  of  queen  of  a  country  salon  does  not 
readily  forego  it.  Of  all  habits,  those  of  vanity  are  the  most 
enduring. 

Colonel  Giguet,  a  Liberal,  after  being  a  Bonapartist — for, 
by  a  singular  metamorphosis,  Napoleon's  soldiers  almost  all 
fell  in  love  with  the  constitutional  system — naturally  became, 
under  the  Restoration,  the  president  of  the  Town  Council  of 
Arcis,  which  included  Grevin,  the  notary,  and  Beauvisage, 
his  son-in-law  ;  Varlet's  son,  the  leading  physician  in  the  town 
and  Grevin's  brother-in-law,  with  sundry  other  Liberals  of 
importance. 

"If  our  dear  boy  is  not  elected,"  said  Madame  Marion, 
after  looking  into  the  anteroom  and  the  garden  to  make  sure 
that  nobody  was  listening,  "  he  will  not  win  Mademoiselle 
Beauvisage  ;  for  what  he  looks  for  in  the  event  of  his  success 
is  marrying  Cecile." 


6  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"Cecile?"  said  the  old  man,  opening  his  eyes  wide  to 
gaze  at  his  sister  in  amazement. 

"  No  one  but  you  in  all  the  department,  brother,  is  likely 
to  forget  the  fortune  and  the  expectations  of  Mademoiselle 
Beauvisage." 

"  She  is  the  wealthiest  heiress  in  the  department  of  the 
Aube,"  said  Simon  Giguet. 

"  But  it  seems  to  me  that  my  son  is  not  to  be  sneezed  at !  " 
said  the  old  colonel.  "  He  is  your  heir;  he  has  his  mother's 
money ;  and  I  hope  to  leave  him  something  better  than  my 
bare  name." 

"All  that  put  together  will  not  give  him  more  than  thirty 
thousand  francs  a  year,  and  men  have  already  come  forward 
with  as  much  as  that — to  say  nothing  of  position " 

"And  ? "  asked  the  colonel. 

"And  have  been  refused." 

"What  on  earth  do  the  Beauvisages  want,  then?"  said 
Giguet,  looking  from  his  sister  to  his  son. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  Colonel  Giguet,  Madame  Marion's 
brother — in  whose  house  the  society  of  Ar<:is  had  been  meeting 
every  evening  for  the  last  four-and-twenty  years,  whose  salon 
rang  with  the  echo  of  every  rumor,  every  slander,  every  piece 
of  gossip  of  the  countryside — where  perhaps  they  were  even 
manufactured — should  be  ignorant  of  such  facts  and  events. 
But  his  ignorance  is  accounted  for  when  it  is  pointed  out  that 
this  noble  survivor  of  the  Imperial  phalanx  went  to  bed  and 
rose  with  the  chickens,  as  old  men  do  who  want  to  live  all 
the  days  of  their  life.  Hence  he  was  never  present  at  confi- 
dential "  talks." 

For  the  past  nine  years,  since  his  political  party  had  come 
to  the  top,  the  colonel  lived  almost  out  of  the  world.  He 
always  rose  with  the  sun,  and  devoted  himself  to  horticulture; 
he  was  devoted  to  flowers ;  but  of  all  flowers,  he  only  cherished 
his  roses.  He  had  the  stained  hands  of  a  true  gardener.  He 
himself  tended  his  beds — his  squares  he  called  them.     His 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  7 

squares  !  The  word  reminded  him  of  the  gaudy  array  of 
men  drawn  up  on  the  field  of  battle.  He  was  always  holding 
council  with  his  man,  and,  especially  for  the  last  two  years, 
seldom  mingled  with  the  company,  rarely  seeing  any  visitors. 
He  took  one  meal  only  with  the  family — his  dinner ;  for  he 
was  up  too  early  to  Ijreakfast  with  his  sister  and  his  son.  It 
is  to  the  colonel's  skill  that  the  world  owes  the  Giguet  rose, 
famous  among  amateurs. 

This  old  man,  a  sort  of  domestic  fetish,  was  brought  out, 
of  course,  on  great  occasions ;  some  families  have  a  demi- 
god of  this  kind,  and  make  a  display  of  him  as  they  would  of 
a  title. 

"  I  have  a  suspicion  that  since  the  Revolution  of  July  Ma- 
dame Beauvisage  has  a  hankering  after  living  in  Paris,"  said 
Madame  Marion.  "  Being  compelled  to  remain  here  till  her 
father  dies,  she  has  transferred  her  ambition  and  placed  her 
hopes  in  her  future  son-in-law;  the  fair  matron  dreams  of  the 
splendors  of  a  political  position." 

"And  could  you  love  Cecile?"  asked  the  colonel  of  his 
son. 

"Yes,  father." 

"  Does  she  take  to  you  ?  " 

"  I  think  so.  But  the  important  point  is  that  her  mother 
and  her  grandfather  should  fancy  me.  Although  old  Grevin 
is  pleased  to  oppose  my  election,  success  would  bring  Madame 
Beauvisage  to  accept  me,  for  she  will  hope  to  govern  me  to 
her  mind,  and  be  minister  under  my  name." 

"A  good  joke!"  cried  Madame  Marion.  "And  what 
does  she  take  us  for?" 

"Whom  has  she  refused  then?"  asked  the  colonel  of  his 
sister. 

"  Well,  within  the  last  three  months  they  say  that  Antonin 
Goulard  and  Monsieur  Frederic  Marest,  the  public  prose- 
cutor, got  very  equivocal  replies,  meaning  anything  excepting 
Yes." 


8  THE   DEPUTY  FOR   ARCIS. 

"Good  heavens!"  exclaimed  the  old  man,  throwing  up 
his  arms,  "  what  times  we  live  in  !  Why,  C6cile  is  a  hosier's 
daughter,  a  farmer's  grandchild.  Does  Madame  Beauvisage 
look  for  a  Comte  de  Cinq-Cygne  for  a  son-in-law  ?  " 

*'  Nay,  brother,  do  not  make  fun  of  the  Beauvisages.  Cecile 
is  rich  enough  to  choose  a  husband  wherever  she  pleases — even 
of  the  rank  of  the  Cygnes.  But  I  hear  the  bell  announcing 
the  arrival  of  some  elector ;  I  must  go,  and  am  only  sorry  that 
I  cannot  listen  to  what  is  said." 

The  district  of  Arcis-sur-Aube  was  at  this  time  in  a  strange 
position,  believing  itself  free  to  elect  a  deputy.  From  1816 
till  1836  it  had  always  returned  one  of  the  most  ponderous 
orators  of  the  Left,  one  of  those  seventeen  whom  the  Liberal 
party  loved  to  designate  as  "great  citizens" — no  less  a  man, 
in  short,  than  Francois  Keller,  of  the  firm  of  Keller  Brothers, 
son-in-law  to  the  Comte  de  Gondreville. 

Gondreville,  one  of  the  finest  estates  in  France,  is  not 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  league  from  Arcis.  The  banker, 
lately  created  count  and  peer  of  France,  proposed,  no  doubt, 
to  hand  on  to  his  son,  now  thirty  years  of  age,  his  position  as 
deputy,  so  as  to  fit  him  in  due  time  to  sit  among  the  peers. 

Chailes  Keller,  already  a  major  holding  a  staff  appointment, 
and  now  a  viscount,  as  one  of  the  prince  royal's  favorites, 
was  attached  to  the  party  of  the  Citizen  King.  A  splendid 
future  seemed  to  lie  before  a  young  man  of  immense  wealth, 
high  courage,  and  noteworthy  devotion  to  the  new  dynasty — 
grandson  to  the  Comte  de  Gondreville,  and  nephew  of  the 
Marechale  de  Carigliano.  But  this  election,  indispensable  to 
his  future  plans,  presented  very  great  difficulties. 

Ever  since  the  advancement  to  power  of  the  citizen  class, 
Arcis  had  felt  a  vague  yearning  for  independence.  The  last 
few  elections,  at  which  Fran9ois  Keller  had  been  returned, 
had  been  disturbed  by  certain  Republicans  whose  red  caps  and 
wagging  beards  had  not  proved  alarming  to  the  good  folk  of 
Arcis.     By  working  up  the  feeling  of  the  country,  the  Radical 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  9 

candidate  had  secured  thirty  or  forty  votes.  Some  of  the 
residents,  humiliated  by  seeing  their  town  a  rotten  borough 
of  the  Opposition,  then  joined  these  democrats,  but  not  to 
support  democracy. 

When  Simon  Giguet  sounded  Grevin  the  notary,  the  count's 
faithful  ally,  on  the,- subject  of  the  candidature,  the  old  man 
replied  that,  without  knowing  anything  of  the  Comte  de 
Gondreville's  intentions,  Charles  Keller  was  the  man  for  him, 
and  that  he  should  do  his  utmost  to  secure  his  return. 

As  soon  as  Grevin's  announcement  was  made  known  in 
Arcis  there  was  a  strong  feeling  against  him.  Although  this 
Aristides  of  Cliampagne  had,  during  thirty  years  of  practice, 
commanded  the  fullest  confidence  of  the  citizens ;  although 
he  had  been  mayor  of  the  town  from  1804  till  1814,  and 
again  during  the  Hundred  Days;  although  the  Opposition 
had  recognized  him  as  their  leader  till  the  days  of  triumph  in 
1830,  when  he  had  refused  the  honor  of  the  mayoralty  in 
consideration  of  his  advanced  age ;  finally,  although  the 
town,  in  proof  of  its  attachment,  had  then  elected  his  son-in- 
law.  Monsieur  Beauvisage,  they  now  all  turned  against  him, 
and  some  of  the  younger  spirit  accused  him  of  being  in  his 
dotage. 

Monsieur  le  Maire,  questioned  only  the  day  before  on  the 
market-place,  had  declared  that  he  would  sooner  vote  for  the 
first  name  on  the  list  of  eligible  citizens  of  Arcis  than  for 
Charles  Keller,  for  whom  he  had,  however,  the  highest  es- 
teem. 

"Arcis  shall  no  longer  be  a  rotten  borough  !  "  cried  he. 
"  Or  I  go  to  live  in  Paris." 

Flatter  the  passions  of  the  day,  and  you  become  a  hero  at 
once,  even  at  Arcis-sur-Aube. 

"  Monsieur  le  Maire  has  given  crowning  proof  of  his  firm- 
ness of  temper,"  they  said. 

Nothing  gathers  faster  than  a  legalized  rebellion.  In  the 
course  of  the  evening  Madame  Marion  and  her  friends  had 


10  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

organized  for  the  morrow  a  meeting  of  "  Independent  Elec- 
tors "  in  favor  of  Simon  Giguet,  tlie  colonel's  son.  And  now 
that  morrow  was  to-day,  and  she  had  turned  the  whole  house 
topsy-turvy  for  the  reception  of  the  friends  on  whose  inde- 
pendence they  relied. 

Simon  Giguet,  the  home-made  candidate  of  a  little  town 
that  was  jealously  eager  to  return  one  of  its  sons,  had,  as  has 
been  seen,  at  once  taken  advantage  of  this  little  stir  to  make 
himself  the  representative  of  the  wants  and  interests  of  South- 
western Champagne.  At  the  same  time,  the  position  and 
fortune  of  the  Giguet  family  were  wholly  due  to  the  Comie 
de  Gondreville.  But  when  an  election  is  in  the  case,  can 
feelings  be  considered  ? 

This  drama  is  written  for  the  enlightenment  of  lands  so  un- 
happy as  to  be  ignorant  of  the  benefits  of  national  representa- 
tion, and  unaware,  therefore,  of  the  intestinal  struggles  and 
the  Brutus-like  sacrifices  a  little  town  has  to  suffer  in  giving 
birth  to  a  deputy — a  natural  and  majestic  spectacle  which  can 
only  be  compared  to  childbirth — there  are  the  same  efforts, 
the  same  defilement,  the  same  travail,  the  same  triumph. 

During  his  wife's  lifetime,  from  1806  to  1813,  the  colonel 
had  had  three  children,  of  whom  Simon,  the  eldest,  survived 
the  other  two.  The  mother  died  in  1814,  one  of  the  children 
in  1818,  the  other  in  1825.  Until  he  remained  the  sole  sur- 
vivor, Simon  had,  of  course,  been  brought  up  with  a  view  to 
making  his  own  living  by  some  lucrative  profession.  Then, 
when  he  was  an  only  son,  Simon's  prospects  underwent  a 
reverse.  Madame  Marion's  hopes  for  her  nephew  had  been 
largely  founded  on  his  inheriting  considerable  wealth  fromfcis 
grandfather,  the  Hamburg  banker  ;  but  the  German,  dying  m 
1826,  left  his  grandson,  Giguet,  no  more  than  two  thousand 
francs  a  year.  The  financier,  endowed  with  great  powers  of 
procreation,  had  counteracted  the  monotony  of  commercial 
life  by  indulging  in  the  joys  of  fatherhood  ;  lience  he  favored 
the  families  of  the  eleven  other  children  who  clung  to  him,  as 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  11 

it  were,  and  made  him  believe — what,  indeed,  seemed  not 
unlikely — that  Simon  would  be  a  rich  man. 

The  colonel  was  bent  on  putting  his  son  into  an  independent 
profession  ;  and  this  was  why :  the  Giguets  could  not  hope  for 
any  favor  from  Government  under  the  Restoration.  Even  if 
Simon  had  not  had  an  ardent  Bonapartist  for  his  father,  he 
belonged  to  a  family  all  of  whom  had  justly  incurred  the  dis- 
approbation of  the  Cinq-Cygne  family,  in  consequence  of  the 
part  taken  by  Giguet,  the  colonel  of  Gendarmes,  and  all  the 
Marions — Madame  Marion  included — ^as  witnesses  for  the 
prosecution  in  the  famous  trial  of  the  Simeuses.  These 
brothers  were  unjustly  sentenced,  in  1805,  as  guilty  of  carry- 
ing off  and  detaining  the  Comte  de  Gondreville  (at  that  time 
a  senator,  after  having  been  the  people's  representative),  who 
had  despoiled  their  family  of  its  fortune. 

Grevin  had  been  not  only  one  of  the  most  important  wit- 
nesses, but  also  an  ardent  promoter  of  the  proceedings.  At 
this  time  this  trial  still  divided  the  district  of  Arcis  into  two 
factions — one  believing  in  the  innocence  of  the  condemned 
parties  and  upholding  the  family  of  Cinq-Cygne,  the  other 
supporting  the  Comte  de  Gondreville  and  his  adherents. 
Though,  after  the  Restoration,  the  Comtesse  de  Cinq-Cygne 
made  use  of  the  influence  she  acquired  by  the  return  of  the 
Bourbons  to  settle  everything  to  her  mind  in  the  department, 
the  Comte  de  Gondreville  found  means  to  counterbalance  the 
supremacy  of  the  Cinq-Cygnes  by  the  secret  authority  he  held 
over  the  Liberals  by  means  of  Gr6vin  and  Colonel  Giguet. 
He  also  had  the  support  of  his  son-in-law,  Keller,  who  was 
unfailingly  elected  deputy  in  spite  of  the  Cinq-Cygnes,  and 
considerable  influence  in  the  State  Council  so  long  as  King 
Louis  XVin.  lived. 

It  was  by  the  Comte  de  Gondreville's  advice  that  Colonel 
Giguet  had  made  a  lawyer  of  his  son.  Simon  had  all  the 
better  chance  of  shining  in  the  Arcis  district,  because  he  was 
the  only  pleader  there ;  as  a  rule,  in  these  small  towns,  the 


12  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

attorneys  plead  in  their  own  cases.  Simon  had  had  some 
little  success  at  the  assizes  of  the  department ;  but  he  was  not 
the  less  the  butt  of  many  pleasantries  from  Frederic  Marest, 
the  public  prosecutor;  from  Olivier  Vinet,  his  deputy;  and 
Michu,  the  presiding  judge — the  three  wits  of  the  court. 
Simon  Giguet,  it  must  be  owned,  like  all  men  who  are  laughed 
at,  laid  himself  open  to  the  cruel  power  of  ridicule.  He 
listened  to  his  own  voice,  he  was  ready  to  talk  on  any  pre- 
tense, he  spun  out  endless  reels  of  cut-and-dried  phrases, 
which  were  accepted  as  eloquence  among  the  superior  citizens 
of  Arcis.  The  poor  fellow  was  one  of  the  class  of  bores  who 
have  an  explanation  for  everything,  even  for  the  simplest 
matters.  He  would  explain  the  rain  ;  the  causes  of  the  Revo- 
lution of  July;  he  would  also  explain  things  that  were  inex- 
plicable— he  would  explain  Louis-Philippe,  Monsieur  Odilon 
Barrot,  Monsieur  Thiers ;  he  explained  the  Eastern  Question  ; 
the  state  of  the  province  of  Champagne;  he  explained  1789, 
the  custom-house  tariff,  the  views  of  humanitarians,  mag- 
netism, and  the  distribution  of  the  civil  list. 

This  young  man,  who  was  lean  and  bilious-looking,  and 
tall  enough  to  account  for  his  sonorous  emptiness — for  a  tall 
man  is  rarely  remarkable  for  distinguished  gifts — caricatured 
the  Puritanism  of  the  Extreme  Left,  whose  members  are  all  so 
precise,  after  the  fashion  of  a  prude  who  has  some  intrigue  to 
conceal. 

The  first  sound  of  the  door-bell,  announcing  the  advent  of 
the  more  important  electors,  made  the  ambitious  youth's  heart 
beat  with  vague  alarms.  Simon  did  not  deceive  him^^f  as  to 
the  cleverness  or  the  vast  resources  at  the  command  of  old 
Gr^vin,  nor  as  to  the  effect  of  the  heroic  measures  that  would 
be  taken  by  the  Ministry  to  support  the  interests  of  the  brave 
young  officer — at  that  time  in  Africa  on  the  staff  of  the  prince 
— who  was  the  son  of  one  of  the  great  citizen-lords  of  France, 
and  the  nephew  of  a  marechale. 

**  I  really  think  I  have  the  colic,"  said  he  to  his  father.     "  I 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  13 

have  a  sickly  burning  just  over  the  pit  of  my  stomach,  which 
I  do  not  at  all  like " 

"The  oldest  soldiers,"  replied  the  colonel,  "felt  just  the 
same  when  the  guns  opened  fire  at  the  beginning  of  a  bat- 
tle." 

"  What  will  it  be,  then,  in  the  Chamber  !  "  exclaimed  the 

lawyer. 

"The  Comte  de  Gondreville  has  told  us,"  the  old  soldier 
went  on,  "  that  more  than  one  speaker  is  liable  to  the  little 
discomforts  which  we  old  leather-breeches  were  used  to  feel 
at  the  beginning  of  a  fight.  And  all  for  a  few  empty  words  ! 
But,  dear  me,  you  want  to  be  a  deputy,"  added  the  old  man, 
with  a  shrug.     "  Be  a  deputy  !  " 

"  The  triumph,  father,  will  be  Cecile  !  Cecile  is  enor- 
mously  rich,  and  in  these  days  money  is  power." 

"  Well,  well,  times  have  changed  !  In  the  Emperor's  time 
it  was  bravery  that  was  needed." 

"  Every  age  may  be  summed  up  in  a  word  !  "  said  Simon, 
repeating  a  remark  of  the  old  Comte  de  Gondreville's,  which 
was  thoroughly  characteristic  of  the  man.  "Under  the  Em- 
pire to  ruin  a  man  you  said  :  *  He  is  a  coward  ! '  Nowadays 
we  say  :  '  He  is  a  swindler.'  " 

"  Unhappy  France,  what  have  you  come  to  !  "  cried  the 
colonel.     "  I  will  go  back  to  my  roses." 

"No,  no,  stay  here,  father.  You  are  the  keystone  of  the 
arch  !  " 

The  first  to  appear  was  the  mayor,  Monsieur  Phileas  Beau- 
visage,  and  with  him  came  his  father-in-law's  successor,  the 
busiest  notary  in  the  town,  Achille  Pigoult,  the  grandson  of 
an  old  man  who  had  been  justice  of  the  peace  at  Arcis  all 
through  the  Revolution,  the  Empire,  and  the  early  days  of 
the  Restoration.  Achille  Pigoult,  a  man  of  about  two-and- 
thirty,  had  been  old  Grevin's  clerk  for  eighteen  years,  with- 
out a  hope  of  getting  an  office  as  notary.     His  father,  the  old 


14  THE   DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

justice's  son,  had  failed  badly  in  business,  and  died  of  an 
apoplexy  so  called.  Then  the  Comte  de  Gondreville,  on 
whom  old  Pigoult  had  some  claims  outstanding  from  1793, 
had  lent  the  necessary  security,  and  so  enabled  the  grandson 
to  purchase  Grevin's  office  ;  the  old  justice  of  the  peace  had, 
in  fact,  conducted  the  preliminary  inquiry  in  the  Simeuse 
case.  So  Achille  had  established  himself  in  a  house  in  the 
Church  Square  belonging  to  the  count,  and  let  at  so  low  a 
rent  that  it  was  easy  to  perceive  how  anxious  the  wily  poli- 
tician was  to  keep  a  hold  over  the  chief  notary  of  the  town. 

This  young  Pigoult,  a  lean  little  man,  with  eyes  that  seemed 
to  pierce  the  green  spectacles  which  did  not  mitigate  their 
cunning  expression,  and  fully  informed  of  everybody's  con- 
cerns in  the  district,  had  acquired  a  certain  readiness  of  speech 
from  the  habit  of  talking  on  business,  and  was  supposed  to 
be  a  great  wag,  simply  because  he  spoke  out  with  rather  more 
wit  than  the  natives  had  at  their  command.  He  was  still  a 
bachelor,  looking  forward  to  making  some  good  match  by  the 
intervention  of  his  two  patrons — Gr^vin  and  the  Comte  de 
Gondreville.  And  Lawyer  Giguet  could  not  repress  a  start  of 
surprise  when  he  saw  Achille  as  a  satellite  to  Monsieur  Phileas 
Beauvisage. 

The  man's  entire  self-satisfaction  passed,  however,  for  benev- 
olence and  friendliness,  all  the  more  readily  because  he  had  a 
style  of  speech  of  his  own.  marked  by  the  most  extravagant 
use  of  polite  phraseology.  He  always  "  had  the  honor  "  to  in- 
quire after  the  health  of  a  friend,  he  invariably  added  the 
2L^)QC\\vt.?>  dear,  goody  excellent ;  and  he  was  prodigal  of  compli- 
mentary phrases  on  every  occasion  of  the  minor  grievances  or 
pleasures  of  life.  Thus,  under  a  deluge  of  commonplace,  he 
concealed  his  utter  incapacity,  his  lack  of  education,  and  a 
vacillating  nature  which  can  only  find  adequate  description  in 
the  old-fashioned  word  weathercock.  But  then  this  weather- 
cock had  for  its  pinion  handsome  Madame  Beauvisage,  Sever- 
ine  Gr6vin,  the  notable  lady  of  the  district. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  16 

When  Severine  had  heard  of  what  she  was  pleased  to  call 
her  husband's  freak  a  propos  to  the  election,  she  had  said  to 
him  that  very  morning  : 

"You  did  not  do  badly  by  asserting  your  independence; 
but  you  must  not  go  to  the  meeting  at  the  Giguets'  without 
taking  Achille  Pigoult ;  I  have  sent  to  tell  him  to  call  for 
you." 

Now  sending  Achille  Pigoult  to  keep  an  eye  on  Beauvisage 
was  tantamount  to  sending  a  spy  from  the  Gondreville  faction 
to  attend  the  Giguets'  meeting.  So  it  is  easy  to  imagine  what 
a  grimace  twisted  Simon's  puritanical  features  when  he  found 
himself  extending  a  civil  welcome  to  a  regular  visitor  in  his 
aunt's  drawing-room,  and  an  influential  elector,  in  whom  he 
scented  an  enemy. 

**  Ah  !  "  thought  he  to  himself,  "  I  was  a  fool  when  I  re- 
fused the  security  money  he  asked  me  to  lend  him  !  Old 
Gondreville  was  sharper  than  I.  Good-day,  Achille,"  he  said 
aloud,  with  an  air  of  ease.  "You  will  give  me  a  tough  job 
or  two," 

"  Your  meeting  is  not  a  conspiracy  against  the  independence 
of  our  votes,  I  suppose,"  replied  the  notary  with  a  smile. 
"  We  are  playing  aboveboard  ?  " 

"  Aboveboard  !  "  repeated  Beauvisage. 

And  the  mayor  laughed  that  meaningless  laugh  with  which 
some  men  end  every  sentence,  and  which  might  be  called  the 
burden  of  their  song.  Then  Monsieur  le  Maire  assumed  what 
we  may  call  his  third  position,  fullface,  and  very  upright, 
with  his  hands  behind  his  back.  He  was  in  a  whole  suit  of 
black,  with  a  highly  decorated  white  vest,  open  so  as  to  show 
a  glimpse  of  two  diamond  studs  worth  several  thousand  francs. 

"We  will  fight  it  out,  and  be  none  the  worse  friends," 
Phileas  went  on.  "  That  is  the  essential  feature  of  constitu- 
tional institutions.  Hah,  ha,  ha!  That  is  my  notion  of  the 
alliance  between  the  monarchy  and  liberty.     He,  he,  he  !  " 

Thereupon  the  mayor  took  Simon  by  the  hand,  saving — 


16  THE   DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"And  how  are  you,  my  dear  friend?  Your  dear  aunt  and 
the  worthy  colonel  are,  no  doubt,  as  well  to-day  as  they  were 
yesterday — at  least  we  may  presume  that  they  are.  Eh,  eh  ! 
A  little  put  out,  perhaps,  by  the  ceremony  we  are  preparing 
for,  perhaps.  So,  so!  Young  man"  (jotig niaan,  he  said), 
"we  are  starting  in  our  political  career?  Ah,  ha,  ha!  This 
is  our  first  step!  We  must  never  draw  back — it  is  a  strong 
measure  !  Ay,  and  I  would  rather  you  than  I  should  rush 
into  the  tempests  of  the  Chamber.  He,  he !  pleasing  as  it 
may  be  to  find  the  sovereign  power  of  France  embodied  in 
one's  own  person — he,  he  ! — one  four-hundred-and-fifty-third 
part  of  it — he,  he  !  " 

There  was  a  pleasant  fullness  in  Phileas  Beauvisage's  voice 
that  corresponded  admirably  with  the  gourd-like  rotundity  of 
his  face  and  its  hue  as  of  a  pale  buff  pumpkin,  his  round 
back,  and  broad  protuberant  person.  His  voice,  as  deep  and 
mellow  as  a  'cello,  had  the  velvety  quality  of  a  baritone,  and 
the  laugh  with  which  he  ended  every  sentence  had  a  silvery 
ring. 

"I  admire" the  devotion  of  men  who  can  throw  themselves 
into  the  storms  of  political  life,"  he  went  on.  "He,  he,  he  ! 
You  need  a  nerve  that  I  cannot  boast  of.  Who  would  have 
said  in  1812 — in  18 13  even — that  this  was  what  we  were 
coming  to?  For  my  part,  I  am  prepared  for  anything,  now 
that  asphalt  and  india-rubber,  railways  and  steam,  are  meta- 
morphosing the  ground  under  our  feet,  our  greatcoats,  and 
the  length  of  distances.     Ha,  ha  !  " 

It  is,  no  doubt,  superfluous  to  add  that  Phileas  was  regarded 
at  Arcis  as  an  agreeable  and  charming  man. 

"I  will  endeavor,"  said  Simon  Giguet,  "to  be  a  worthy 
representative " 

"Of  the  sheep  of  Champagne,"  said  Achille  Pigoult 
quickly,  interrupting  his  friend. 

The  aspirant  took  the  irony  without  replying,  for  he  had  to 
go  forward  and   receive  two  more  electors.     One   was  the 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  17 

owner  of  the  Mulct,  the  best  inn  of  the  town,  situated  in  the 
market  square,  at  the  corner  of  the  Rue  de  Brienne.  This 
worthy  innkeeper,  whose  name  was  Poupart,  had  married  the 
sister  of  a  man  in  the  Comtesse  de  Cinq-Cygne's  service,  the 
notorious  Gothard,  who  had  figured  at  the  great  trial.  Now 
Gothard  had  been  acquitted.  Poupart,  though  he  was  of  all  the 
townsfolk  one  of  the  most  devoted  to  the  Cinq-Cygnes,  had, 
two  days  since,  been  so  diligently  and  so  cleverly  wheedled  by 
Colonel  Giguet's  servant,  that  he  fancied  he  would  be  doing 
their  enemy  an  ill  turn  by  bringing  all  his  influence  to  bear 
on  the  election  of  Simon  Giguet ;  and  he  had  just  been  talk- 
ing to  this  effect  to  a  chemist  named  Fromaget,  who,  as  he 
was  not  employed  by  the  Gondreville  family,  was  very  ready 
to  plot  against  the  Kellers.  These  two  men,  important  among 
the  lower  middle-class,  could  control  a  certain  number  of 
doubtful  votes,  for  they  were  the  advisers  of  several  electors 
to  whom  the  political  opinions  of  the  candidates  were  a  matter 
of  indifference. 

Simon,  therefore,  took  Poupart  in  hand,  leaving  Fromaget 
to  his  father,  who  had  just  come  in,  and  was  greeting  those 
who  had  arrived. 

The  deputy  inspector  of  public  works  of  the  district,  the 
secretary  to  the  mairie,  four  bailiffs,  three  attorneys,  the  clerk 
of  assize,  and  the  justice's  clerk,  the  revenue  collector,  and  the 
registrar,  two  doctors — old  Varlet's  rivals,  Grevin's  brother- 
in-law — a  miller  named  Laurent  Coussard,  leader  of  the  Re- 
publican party  at  Arcis — the  mayor's  two  deputies,  the  book- 
seller and  printer  of  the  place,  and  a  dozen  or  so  of  townsfolk 
came  in  by  degrees,  and  then  walked  about  the  garden  in 
groups  while  waiting  till  the  company  should  be  numerous 
enough  to  hold  the  meeting. 

Finally,  by  twelve  o'clock,  about  fifty  men  in  their  Sunday 

attire,  most  of  them  having  come  out  of  curiosity  to  see  the 

fine  rooms  of  which  so  much  had  been  said  in  the  district, 

were  seated  in  the  chairs   arranged  for   them   by   Madame 

2 


18  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

Marion.  The  windows  were  left  open,  and  the  silence  was 
presently  so  complete  that  the  rustle  of  a  silk  dress  could  be 
heard ;  for  Madame  Marion  could  not  resist  the  temptation 
to  go  out  into  the  garden  and  sit  where  she  could  hear  what 
was  going  on.  The  cook,  the  housemaid,  and  the  manservant 
remained  in  the  dining-room,  fully  sharing  their  masters'  feel- 
ings. 

"Gentlemen,"  said  Simon  Giguet,  "some  of  you  wish  to 
do  my  father  the  honor  of  placing  him  in  the  chair  as  president 
of  this  meeting,  but  Colonel  Giguet  desires  me  to  express  his 
acknowledgments  and  decline  it,  while  deeply  grateful  to  you 
for  the  proposal,  which  he  takes  as  a  recompense  for  his  ser- 
vices to  his  country.  We  are  under  my  father's  roof,  and  he 
feels  that  he  must  beg  to  be  excused  ;  he  proposes  a  merchant 
of  the  highest  respectability — a  gentleman  on  whom  your 
suffrages  conferred  the  mayoralty  of  this  town — Monsieur 
Phildas  Beauvisage." 

"Hear,  hear!" 

"We  are,  I  believe,  agreed  that  in  this  meeting — purely 
friendly,  and  perfectly  free,  without  prejudice  in  any  way  to 
the  great  preliminary  meeting,  when  it  will  be  your  business 
to  question  your  candidates  and  weigh  their  merits — we  are 
agreed,  I  say,  to  follow  the  forms — the  constitutional  forms^ 
of  the  elective  Chamber  I  " 

"Yes,  yes!  "  unanimously. 

"Therefore,"  said  Simon,  "I  have  the  honor,  speaking  in 
the  name  of  all  present,  to  request  Monsieur  the  Mayor  to 
take  the  president's  chair." 

Phil6as  rose  and  crossed  the  room,  feeling  himself  turn  as 
red  as  a  cherry.  When  he  found  himself  behind  the  tea-table, 
he  saw  not  a  hundred  eyes,  but  a  hundred  thousand  lights. 
The  sunshine  seemed  to  put  the  room  in  a  blaze,  and,  to  use 
his  own  words,  his  throat  was  full  of  salt. 

"  Return  thanks  !  "  murmured  Simon  in  his  ear, 

"Gentlemen " 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  19 

The  silence  was  so  alarming  that  Phileas  felt  his  heart  in  his 
mouth. 

"  What  am  I  to  say,  Simon  ?  "  he  whispered. 

"  Well  ?  "  said  Achille  Pigoult.* 

"Gentlemen,"  said  Simon,  prompted  by  the  little  notary's 
spiteful  interjection,  **-the  honor  you  have  done  the  mayor 
may  have  startled  without  surprising  him." 

"It  is  so,"  said  Beauvisage.     "  I  am  too  much  overpowered 
by  this  compliment  from  my  fellow-citizens  not  to  be  exces- . 
sively  flattered." 

"  Hear,  hear  !  "  cried  the  notary  only. 

"The  devil  may  take  me,"  said  Beauvisage  to  himself,  "  if 
I  am  ever  caught  again  to  make  speeches  !  " 

"Will  Monsieur  Fromaget  and  Monsieur  Marcelin  accept 
the  functions  of  tellers?"  asked  Simon. 

"  It  would  be  more  in  order,"  said  Achille  Pigoult,  rising, 
"  if  the  meeting  were  to  elect  the  two  members  who  support 
the  chair — in  imitation  of  the  Chamber." 

"It  would  be  far  better,"  observed  Monsieur  Mollot,  an 
enormous  man,  clerk  of  the  assizes,  "  otherwise  the  whole 
business  will  be  a  farce,  and  we  shall  not  be  really  free. 
There  would  be  no  just  cause  why  the  whole  of  the  proceed- 
ings should  not  be  regulated  as  Monsieur  Simon  might  dic- 
tate." 

Simon  muttered  a  few  words  to  Beauvisage,  who  rose,  and 
was  presently  delivered  of  the  word,  "Gentlemen  !  "  which 
might  be  described  as  of  thrilling  interest. 

"Allow  me,  Mr.  President,"  said  Achille  Pigoult;  "it  is 
your  part  to  preside,  not  to  discuss." 

"Gentlemen,"  said  Beauvisage  again,  prompted  by  Simon, 
"  if  we  are  to — to  conform  to — to  parliamentary  usage — I 
would  beg  the  Honorable  Monsieur  Pigoult  to — to  come  and 
speak  from  the  table — this  table." 

Pigoult  started  forward  and  stood  by  the  tea-table,  his  fin- 
*  Grandson  of  Pigoult,  in  "A  Historical  Mystery." 


20  THE  DEPUTY  FOR   ARCIS. 

gers  lightly  resting  on  the  edge,  and  showed  his  sublime 
courage  by  speaking  most  fluently — almost  like  the  great 
Monsieur  Thiers. 

"Gentlemen,  it  was  not  I  who  proposed  that  we  should 
imitate  the  Chamber ;  till  now  it  has  always  appeared  to  me 
that  the  Chambers  are  truly  inimitable.  At  the  same  time,  it 
was  self-evident  that  a  meeting  of  sixty-odd  notables  of  Cham- 
pagne must  select  a  president,  for  no  sheep  can  move  without 
a  shepherd.  If  we  had  voted  by  ballot,  I  am  quite  sure  our 
esteemed  mayor  would  have  been  unanimously  elected.  His 
antagonism  to  the  candidate  put  forward  by  his  relations 
shows  that  he  possesses  civic  courage  in  no  ordinary  degree, 
since  he  can  shake  off  the  strongest  ties — those  of  family  con- 
nection. 

"  To  set  public  interest  above  family  feeling  is  so  great  an 
effort,  that,  to  achieve  it,  we  are  always  obliged  to  remind 
ourselves  that  Brutus,  from  his  tribune,  has  looked  down  on 
us  for  two  thousand  five  hundred  odd  years.  It  seemed  quite 
natural  to  Maitre  Giguet — who  was  so  clever  as  to  divine  our 
wishes  with  regard  to  the  choice  of  a  chairman — to  guide  us 
in  our  selection  of  the  tellers  ;  but,  in  response  to  my  remark, 
you  thought  that  once  was  enough,  and  you  were  right.  Our 
common  friend,  Simon  Giguet,  who  is,  in  fact,  to  appear  as  a 
candidate,  would  appear  too  much  as  the  master  of  the  situa- 
tion, and  would  then  lose  that  high  place  in  our  opinion 
which  his  venerable  father  has  secured  by  his  diffidence. 

"  Now,  what  is  our  worthy  chairman  doing  by  accepting 
the  presidency  on  the  lines  suggested  to  him  by  the  candi- 
date ?  Why,  he  is  robbing  us  of  our  liberty.  And,  I  ask 
you,  is  it  seemly  that  the  chairman  of  our  choice  should  call 
upon  us  to  vote,  by  rising  and  sitting,  for  the  two  tellers  ? 
Gentlemen,  that  would  be  a  choice  already  made.  Should  we 
be  free  to  choose?  Can  a  man  sit  still  when  his  neighbor 
stands?  If  I  were  proposed,  every  one  would  rise,  I  believe, 
out  of  politeness ;  and  so,  as  all  would  rise  for  each  one  in 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  21 

turn,  there  would  be  simply  no  choice  when  every  one  had 
voted  for  every  one  else." 

"  Very  true  !  "  said  the  sixty  listeners. 

"Well,  then,  let  each  of  us  write  two  names  on  a  voting- 
paper,  and  then  those  who  take  their  seats  on  each  side  of  the 
chairman  may  regard  themselves  as  ornaments  to  the  meeting. 
They  will  be  qualified,  conjointly  with  the  chairman,  to  decide 
on  the  majority  when  we  vote  by  rising  and  sitting  on  any 
resolution  to  be  passed. 

"  We  have  met,  I  believe,  to  promise  the  candidate  such 
support  as  we  can  command  at  the  preliminary  meeting,  at 
which  every  elector  in  the  district  will  be  present.  This  I 
pronounce  to  be  a  solemn  occasion.  Are  we  not  voting  for 
the  four-hundredth  part  of  the  governing  power,  as  Monsieur 
le  Maire  told  us  just  now  with  the  appropriate  and  character- 
istic wit  that  we  so  highly  appreciate  ?  " 

During  this  address  Colonel  Giguet  had  been  cutting  a 
sheet  of  paper  into  strips,  and  Simon  sent  for  an  inkstand  and 
pens.     There  was  a  pause. 

This  introductory  discussion  had  greatly  disturbed  Simon 
and  aroused  the  attention  of  the  sixty  worthies  in  convocation. 
In  a  few  minutes  they  were  all  busy  writing  the  names,  and 
the  cunning  Pigoult  gave  it  out  that  the  votes  were  in  favor  of 
Monsieur  Mollot,  clerk  of  assize,  and  Monsieur  Godivet,  the 
registrar.  These  two  nominations  naturally  displeased  Fro- 
maget  the  druggist  and  Marcelin  the  attorney. 

"You  have  been  of  service,"  said  Achille  Pigoult,  "by 
enabling  us  to  assert  our  independence ;  you  may  be  prouder 
of  being  rejected  than  you  could  have  been  of  being  chosen." 

Everybody  laughed.  Simon  Giguet  restored  silence  by 
asking  leave  of  the  chairman  to  speak.  Beauvisage  was 
already  damp  with  perspiration,  but  he  summoned  all  his 
courage  to  say — 

"Monsieur  Simon  Giguet  will  address  the  meeting." 

"Gentlemen,"  said  the  candidate,  "allow  me  first  to  thank 


22  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

Monsieur  Achille  Pigoult,  who,  although  our  meeting  is  a 
strictly  friendly  one " 

"Is  preparatory  to  the  great  preliminary  meeting,"  Mar- 
celin  put  in. 

"I  was  about  to  say  so,"  Simon  went  on.  "In  the  first 
place,  I  beg  to  thank  Monsieur  Achille  Pigoult  for  having 
proceeded  on  strictly  parliamentary  lines.  To-day,  for  the 
first  time,  the  district  of  Arcis  will  make  free  use " 

"Free  use  !  "  said  Pigoult,  interrupting  the  orator. 

"  Free  use  !  "  cried  the  assembly. 

"  Free  use,"  repeated  Simon,  "  of  the  right  of  voting  in  the 
great  contest  of  the  general  election  of  a  deputy  to  be  re- 
turned to  Parliament ;  and  as,  in  a  few  days,  we  shall  have  a 
meeting,  to  which  every  elector  is  invited,  to  form  an  opinion 
of  the  candidates,  we  may  think  ourselves  fortunate  to  acquire 
here,  on  a  small  scale,  some  practice  in  the  customs  of  such 
meetings.  We  shall  be  all  the  forwarder  as  to  a  decision  on 
the  political  prospects  of  the  town  of  Arcis ;  for  what  we  have 
to  do  to-day  is  to  consider  the  town  instead  of  a  family,  the 
country  instead  of  a  man." 

He  went  on  to  sketch  the  history  of  the  elections  for  the 
past  twenty  years.  While  approving  of  the  repeated  election 
of  Frangois  Keller,  he  said  that  now  the  time  had  come  for 
shaking  off  the  yoke  of  the  Gondrevilles.  Arcis  could  not  be 
a  fief  of  the  Liberals  any  more  than  it  could  be  a  fief  of  the 
Cinq-Cygnes.  Advanced  opinions  were  making  their  way  in 
France,  and  Charles  Keller  did  not  represent  them.  Charles 
Keller,  now  a  viscount,  was  a  courtier ;  he  could  never  be  truly 
independent,  since,  in  proposing  him  as  a  candidate  for  elec- 
tion, it  was  done  more  with  a  view  to  fitting  him  to  succeed 
his  father  as  a  peer  than  as  a  deputy  to  the  Lower  Chamber — 
and  so  forth,  and  so  forth.  Finally,  Simon  begged  to  offer 
himself  as  a  candidate  for  their  suffrages,  pledging  himself  to 
sit  under  the  wing  of  the  illustrious  Odilon  Barrot,  and  never 
to  desert  the  glorious  standard  of  Progress.     Progress ! — a 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  28 

word  behind  which,  at  that  time,  more  insincere  ambitions 
took  shelter  than  definite  ideas;  for,  after  1830,  it  could  only 
stand  for  the  pretensions  of  certain  hungry  democrats. 

Still,  the  word  had  much  effect  in  Arcis,  and  lent  importance 
to  any  man  who  wrote  it  on  his  flag.  A  man  who  announced 
himself  as  a  partisan'of  Progress  was  a  philosopher  in  all  ques- 
tions, and  politically  a  Puritan.  He  was  in  favor  of  railways, 
macintoshes,  penitentiaries,  negro  emancipation,  savings- 
banks,  seamless  shoes,  gas-lighting,  asphalt  pavements,  uni- 
versal suflfrage,  and  the  reduction  of  the  civil  list.  It  was 
also  a  pronouncement  of  opposition  to  the  treaties  of  1815,  to 
the  Elder  Branch  (the  Bourbons),  to  the  Giant  of  the  North, 
"perfidious  Albion,"  and  to  every  undertaking,  good  or  bad, 
inaugurated  by  the  Government.  As  may  be  seen,  the  word 
Progress  can  stand  equally  well  for  black  or  white.  It  was  a 
furbishing  up  of  the  word  Liberalism,  a  new  rallying-cry  for 
new  ambitions. 

"  If  I  rightly  understand  what  we  are  here  for,"  said  Jean 
Violette,  a  stocking-weaver,  who  had,  two  years  since,  bought 
the  Beauvisage  business,  "  we  are  to  bind  ourselves  to  secure, 
by  every  means  in  our  power,  the  return  of  Monsieur  Simon 
Gigiiet  at  the  election  as  deputy  for  Arcis  in  the  place  of 
the  Count  Francois  Keller.  And  if  we  are  all  agreed  to  com- 
bine to  that  end,  we  have  only  to  say  Yes  or  No  to  that  ques- 
tion." 

**  That  is  going  much  too  fast.  Political  matters  are  not 
managed  in  that  way,  or  they  would  cease  to  be  politics  !  " 
cried  Pigoult,  as  his  grandfather,  a  man  of  eighty-six,  came 
into  the  room.  "  The  last  speaker  pronounces  a  decision  on 
what  is,  in  my  humble  opinion,  the  very  subject  under  discus- 
sion.    I  beg  to  speak." 

"  Monsieur  Achille  Pigoult  will  address  the  meeting,"  said 
Beauvisage,  who  could  now  get  through  this  sentence  with  due 
municipal  and  constitutional  dignity. 

"Gentlemen,"  said  the  little  notary,  "if  there  be  in  all 


24  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

Arcis  a  house  where  no  opposition  ought  to  be  made  to  the 
influence  of  the  Comte  de  Gondreville  and  the  Keller  family, 
is  it  not  this  ?  The  worthy  colonel — Colonel  Giguet — is  the 
only  member  of  this  household  who  has  not  experienced  the 
benefits  of  senatorial  influence,  since  he  never  asked  anything 
of  the  Comte  de  Gondreville,  who,  however,  had  his  name 
erased  from  the  list  of  exiles  in  1815,  and  secured  him  the 
pension  he  enjoys,  without  any  steps  on  the  part  of  the  colonel, 
who  is  the  pride  of  our  town " 

A  murmur,  flattering  to  the  old  man,  ran  through  the 
crowd. 

**  But,"  the  orator  went  on,  *•  the  Marion  family  are  loaded 
with  the  count's  favors.  But  for  his  patronage  the  late  Col- 
onel Giguet  never  would  have  had  the  command  of  the  Gen- 
darmes of  this  department.  The  late  Monsieur  Marion  would 
not  have  been  presiding  judge  of  the  Imperial  Court  here  but 
for  the  count — to  whom  I,  for  my  part,  am  eternally  indebted. 
You  will  therefore  understand  how  natural  it  is  that  I  should 
take  his  part  in  this  room.  And,  in  fact,  there  are  few  per- 
sons in  this  district  who  have  not  received  some  kindness  from 
that  family." 

There  was  a  stir  among  the  audience. 

"A  candidate  comes  forward,"  Achille  went  on  with  some 
vehemence,  "  and  I  have  a  right  to  inquire  into  his  past  before 
I  intrust  him  with  power  to  act  for  me.  Now,  I  will  not 
accept  ingratitude  in  my  delegate,  for  ingratitude  is  like  mis- 
fortune— it  leads  from  bad  to  worse.  We  have  been  a  stepping- 
stone  for  the  Kellers,  you  will  say ;  well,  what  I  have  just  lis- 
tened to  makes  me  fear  that  we  may  become  a  stepping-stone 
for  the  Giguets.  We  live  in  an  age  of  facts,  do  we  not? 
Well,  then,  let  us  inquire  what  will  be  the  results  for  the 
electors  of  Arcis  if  we  return  Simon  Giguet  ? 

"Independence  is  your  cry?  Well,  Simon,  whom  I  am 
scouting  as  a  candidate,  is  my  friend — as  he  is  the  friend  of 
all  who  hear  me — and  personally  I  should  be  delighted  to  see 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  25 

him  as  an  orator  of  the  Left,  between  Garnier-Pagds  and  Laf- 
fitte ;  but  what  will  be  the  result  for  the  district  represented? 
It  will  have  lost  the  countenance  of  the  Comte  de  Gondreville 
and  the  Kellers,  and  in  the  course  of  five  years  we  shall  all 
feel  the  want  of  one  or  the  other.  If  we  want  to  get  leave  for 
a  poor  fellow  whons  drawn  for  the  conscription,  we  apply  to 
the  Marechale  de  Carigliano.  We  rely  on  the  Kellers'  interest 
in  many  matters  of  business  which  their  good  word  settles  at 
once.  We  have  always  found  the  old  Comte  de  Gondreville 
kind  and  helpful ;  if  you  belong  to  Arcis,  you  are  shown  in 
without  being  kept  waiting.  Those  three  families  know  every 
family  in  the  place.  But  where  is  the  Maison  Giguet's  bank, 
and  what  influence  has  it  on  the  ministry  ?  What  credit  does 
it  command  in  the  Paris  markets  ?  If  we  want  to  have  a  good 
stone  bridge  in  the  place  of  our  wretched  timber  one,  will  the 
Giguets  extract  the  necessary  funds  from  the  department  and 
the  State? 

*'  If  we  return  Charles  Keller,  we  shall  perpetuate  a  bond  of 
alliance  and  friendship  which  till  now  has  been  entirely  to 
our  advantage.  By  electing  my  good,  my  excellent  friend 
and  schoolfellow  Simon  Giguet,  we  shall  be  constantly  the 
worse  till  he  is  in  office  !  And  I  know  his  modesty  too  well 
to  think  that  he  will  contradict  me  when  I  express  a  doubt  as 
to  his  rapid  advancement  to  the  ministry  !     {^Laughter.') 

"I  came  to  this  meeting  to  oppose  a  resolution  which,  I 
think,  would  be  fatal  to  our  district.  *  Charles  Keller  is  a 
courtier,'  I  am  told.  So  much  the  better.  We  shall  not 
have  to  pay  for  his  political  apprenticeship ;  he  knows  all  the 
business  of  the  place  and  the  requirements  of  parliamentary 
etiquette ;  he  is  more  nearly  a  statesman  than  my  friend 
Simon,  who  does  not  pretend,  indeed,  that  he  has  trained 
himself  to  be  a  Pitt  or  a  Talleyrand  in  our  little  town  of 
Arcis-sur-Aube '  * 

"  Danton  was  a  native  of  Arcis  !  "  cried  Colonel  Giguet, 
furious  at  this  harangue,  which  was  only  too  truthful. 


26  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARQIS. 

**Hear,  hear  /  "  The  word  was  shouted,  and  sixty  listeners 
clapped  the  speaker. 

"  My  father  is  very  ready,"  said  Simon  in  an  undertone  to 
Beauvisage. 

"  I  cannot  understand  why,  in  discussing  an  election  matter, 
there  should  be  so  much  exaggeration  of  any  ties  between  us 
and  the  Comte  dc  Gondreville,"  the  old  colonel  went  on, 
starting  to  his  feet,  while  the  blood  mounted  to  his  face. 
"My  son  inherits  his  fortune  from  his  mother:  he  never 
asked  the  Comte  de  Gondreville  for  anything.  If  the  count 
had  never  existed,  my  son  would  have  been  just  what  he  is — 
the  son  of  an  artillery  colonel  who  owes  his  promotion  to  his 
services — a  lawyer  who  has  always  held  the  same  opinions.  I 
would  say  to  the  Comte  de  Gondreville  himself:  'We  have 
elected  your  son-in-law  for  twenty  years.  Now  we  wish  to 
prove  that  when  we  did  so  it  was  of  our  own  free-will,  and  we 
are  returning  an  Arcis  man  to  show  that  the  old  spirit  of  1793 
— to  which  you  owed  your  fortune — still  lives  on  the  native 

soil  of  Danton,  Malin,  Grevin,  Pigoult,  Marion And 

so '  " 

The  old  man  sat  down. 

There  was  a  great  commotion.  Achille  opened  his  mouth 
to  speak.  Beauvisage,  who  would  not  have  felt  himself  pre- 
siding if  he  had  not  rung  his  bell,  added  to  the  racket  by 
ringing  for  silence.     It  was  by  this  time  two  o'clock. 

"I  must  be  permitted  to  point  out  to  the  honored  colonel, 
whose  feelings  we  can  all  understand,  that  he  spoke  without 
authority  from  the  chair,  which  is  contrary  to  parliamentary 
usage,"  said  Achille  Pigoult. 

"I  see  no  necessity  for  calling  the  colonel  to  order,"  said 
Beauvisage.     "As  a  father " 

Silence  was  restored. 

"We  did  not  come  here,"  said  Fromaget,  *' to  say  Amen 
to  everything  put  forward  by  the  Giguets,  father  and  son, 
and " 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  27 

**No,  no  !  "  cried  the  audience. 

"  This  looks  badly  !  "  said  Madame  Marion  to  the  cook. 

"Gentlemen,"  said  Achille,  "1  will  confine  myself  to  ask- 
ing ray  friend  Simon  Giguet  to  set  forth  categorically  what  he 
proposes  to  do  to  further  our  interests." 

"Yes,  yes!"       ' -- 

"And  when,  may  I  ask,"  said  Simon  Giguet,  "did  good 
citizens  like  the  men  of  Arcis  first  begin  to  make  the  sacred 
mission  of  a  deputy  a  matter  of  bargaining  and  business?" 

It  is  impossible  to  overestimate  the  effect  of  fine  sentiment 
on  a  crowd.  Noble  maxims  are  always  applauded,  and  the 
humiliation  of  the  country  voted  for  all  the  same ;  just  as  a 
jail-bird,  who  yearns  for  the  punishment  of  Robert  Macaire 
when  he  sees  the  play,  will  nevertheless  murder  the  first  Mon- 
sieur Germeuil  who  comes  in  his  way. 

"  Hear,  hear  !  "  cried  some  thorough-going  partisans. 

"  If  you  send  me  to  the  Chamber,  it  will  be  to  represent 
your  principles — the  principles  of  1789 — to  be  a  cipher,  if 
you  will,  of  the  Opposition  ;  but  to  vote  with  it,  to  enlighten 
the  Government,  to  make  war  against  abuses,  and  insist  on 
progress  in  all  particulars " 

"  But  what  do  you  call  progress  ?  Our  notion  of  progress 
would  be  to  bring  all  this  part  of  the  country  under  cultiva- 
tion," said  Fromaget. 

"Progress?  I  will  explain  to  you  what  I  mean  by  prog- 
ress," cried  Giguet,  provoked  by  the  interruption. 

"  It  is  the  Rhine-frontier  for  France,"  said  Colonel  Giguet, 
"and  the  treaties  of  1815  torn  across." 

"It  is  keeping  up  the  price  of  wheat  and  keeping  down  the 
price  of  bread!"  said  Pigoult  mockingly,  and  uttering  in 
jest  one  of  the  nonsensical  cries  which  France  believes  in. 

"  It  is  the  happiness  of  the  multitude  achieved  by  the 
triumph  of  humanitarian  doctrines." 

"What  did  I  tell  you?"  the  wily  notary  muttered  to  his 
neighbors. 


28  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

**  Hush,  silence — we  want  to  hear  !  "  said  some. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  Mollot,  with  a  fat  smile,  "  the  debate 
is  noisy ;  give  your  attention  to  the  speaker ;  allow  him  to 
explain " 

"Ba-a-a,  ba-a-aa,"  bleated  a  friend  of  Achille's,  who  was 
gifted  with  a  power  of  ventriloquism  that  was  invaluable  at 
elections. 

A  roar  of  laughter  burst  from  the  audience,  who  were  essen- 
tially men  of  their  province.  Simon  Giguet  folded  his  arms 
and  waited  till  the  storm  of  merriment  should  be  over. 

**  If  that  was  intended  as  a  reproof,"  he  said,  "a  hint  that 
I  was  marching  with  the  flock  of  those  noble  defenders  of  the 
rights  of  man,  who  cry  out,  who  write  book  after  book — of 
the  immortal  priest  who  pleads  for  murdered  Poland — of  the 
bold  pamphleteers — of  those  who  keep  an  eye  on  the  civil 
list — of  the  philosophers  who  cry  out  for  honesty  in  the  action 
of  our  institutions — if  so,  I  thank  my  unknown  friend.  To 
me  progress  means  the  realization  of  all  that  was  promised  us 
at  the  Revolution  of  July  ;  electoral  reform — and " 

"  Then  you  are  a  democrat,"  interrupted  Achille  Pigoult. 

**No,"  replied  the  candidate.  "  Am  I  a  democrat  because 
I  aim  at  a  regular  and  legal  development  of  our  institutions? 
To  me  progress  is  fraternity  among  all  the  members  of  the 
great  French  family,  and  we  cannot  deny  that  much  suflfer- 
ing 

At  three  o'clock  Simon  Giguet  was  still  explaining  the 
meaning  of  progress,  and  some  of  the  audience  were  emitting 
steady  snores  expressive  of  deep  slumbers. 

Achille  Pigoult  had  artfully  persuaded  them  to  listen  in  re- 
ligious silence  to  the  speaker,  who  was  sinking,  drowning,  in 
his  endless  phrases  and  parentheses. 

At  that  hour  several  groups  of  citizens,  electors,  and  non- 
electors  were  standing  about  in  front  of  the  Chateau  d'Arcis. 
The  gate  opens  on  to  the  place  at  a  right  angle  to  that  of 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  29 

Madame  Marion's  house.  Several  streets  turn  out  of  this 
square,  and  in  the  middle  of  it  stands  a  covered  market. 
Opposite  the  castle,  on  the  farther  side  of  the  square,  which 
is  neither  paved  nor  macadamized,  so  that  the  rain  runs  off  in 
little  gullies,  there  is  a  fine  avenue  known  as  the  Avenue  des 
Soupirs  (of  Sighs),  is.  this  to  the  honor  or  the  discredit  of  the 
women  of  the  town  ?  The  ambiguity  is,  no  doubt,  a  local 
witticism. 

While  the  discussion  was  at  its  height,  to  which  Achille 
Pigoult  had  given  a  dramatic  turn,  with  a  coolness  and  dex- 
terity worthy  of  a  member  of  the  real  Parliament,  four  men 
were  pacing  one  of  the  lime-walks  of  the  Avenue  des  Soupirs. 
When  they  came  to  the  square  they  stopped  with  one  accord 
to  watch  the  townsfolk,  who  were  buzzing  round  the  castle 
like  bees  going  into  a  hive  at  dusk.  These  four  were  the 
whole  Ministerial  party  of  Arcis :  the  sub-prefect,  the  public 
prosecutor,  his  deputy,  and  Monsieur  Martener,  the  examin- 
ing judge. 

"  Well,  I  cannot  understand  what  the  Government  is 
about,"  the  sub-prefect  declared,  pointing  to  the  growing 
crowd.  "  The  position  is  serious,  and  I  am  left  without  any 
instructions." 

*'  In  that  you  are  like  many  other  people,"  said  Olivier 
Vinet,  smiling. 

"What  complaint  have  you  against  the  Government?" 
asked  the  public  prosecutor. 

"The  ministry  is  in  a  difficulty,"  said  young  Martener. 
"It  is  well  known  that  this  borough  belongs,  so  to  speak,  to 
the  Kellers,  and  it  has  no  wish  to  annoy  them.  Some  con- 
sideration must  be  shown  to  the  only  man  who  can  at  all 
compare  with  Monsieur  de  Talleyrand.  It  is  to  the  Comte 
de  Gondreville  that  the  police  should  go  for  instructions,  not 
to  the  prefect." 

"And  meanwhile,"  said  Frederic  Marest,  "  the  Opposition 
is  making  a  stir,  and  you  see  that  Colonel  Giguet's  influence 


80  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

is  strong.  The  mayor,  Monsieur  Beauvisage,  is  in  the  chair 
at  this  preliminary  meeting." 

"After  all,"  said  Olivier  Vinet  slily  to  the  sub-prefect, 
**  Simon  Giguet  is  a  friend  of  yours,  a  schoolfellow.  Even 
if  he  were  a  supporter  of  Monsieur  Thiers,  you  would  lose 
nothing  by  his  being  elected." 

"The  present  ministry  might  turn  me  out  before  its  fall. 
We  may  know  when  we  are  likely  to  be  kicked  out,  but  we 
can  never  tell  when  we  may  get  in  again,"  said  Antonin 
Goulard. 

"  There  goes  Collinet  the  grocer.  He  is  the  sixty-seventh 
qualified  elector  who  has  gone  into  Colonel  Giguet's  house," 
said  Monsieur  Martener,  fulfilling  his  functions  as  examining 
judge  by  counting  the  electors. 

"If  Charles  Keller  is  the  Ministerial  candidate,  I  ought 
to  have  been  informed,"  said  Goulard.  "Time  ought  not 
to  have  been  given  for  Simon  Giguet  to  get  hold  of  the 
voters." 

The  four  gentlemen  walked  on  slowly  to  where  the  avenues 
end  at  the  market-place. 

"There  comes  Monsieur  Groslier !  "  said  the  judge,  seeing 
a  man  on  horseback. 

The  horseman  was  the  superintendent  of  the  police.  He 
saw  the  governing  body  of  Arcis  assembled  on  the  highway, 
and  rode  up  to  the  four  functionaries. 

"Well,  Monsieur  Groslier?"  questioned  the  sub-prefect, 
meeting  him  at  a  few  paces  from  the  other  three. 

"Monsieur,"  said  the  police-officer  in  a  low  voice,  "Mon- 
sieur le  Prefet  sent  me  to  tell  you  some  very  sad  news — the 
Vicomte  Charles  Keller  is  dead.  The  news  reached  Paris  by 
telegraph  the  day  before  yesterday ;  and  the  two  Messieurs 
Keller,  the  Comte  de  Gondreville,  the  Marechale  de  Carig- 
liano,  in  fact,  all  the  family,  came  yesterday  to  Gondreville. 
Abd-el-Kader  has  reopened  the  fighting  in  Africa,  and  there 
has  been  some  every  hot  work.     The  poor  young  man  was 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  31 

one  of  the  first  victims  to  the  war.  You  will  receive  con- 
fidental  instructions,  I  was  told  to  say,  with  regard  to  the 
election." 

"  Through  whom  ?  "  asked  Goulard. 

"If  I  knew,  it  would  cease  to  be  confidential,"  replied 
the  other.  "Monsieur  le  Prefet  himself  did  not  know.  'It 
would  be,'  he  said,  'a  private  communication  to  you  from  the 
minister.'  " 

And  he  went  on  his  way,  while  the  proud  and  happy 
official  laid  a  finger  to  his  lips  to  impress  on  him  to  be 
secret. 

"  What  news  from  the  prefecture  ?  "  asked  the  public  prose- 
cutor when  Goulard  returned  to  join  the  other  three  func- 
tionaries. 

"Nothing  more  satisfactory,"  replied  Antonin,  hurrying 
on  as  if  to  be  rid  of  his  companions. 

As  they  made  their  way  toward  the  middle  of  the  square, 
saying  little,  for  the  three  officials  were  somewhat  nettled  by 
the  hasty  pace  assumed  by  the  sub-prefect,  Monsieur  Martener 
saw  old  Madame  Beauvisage,  Phileas'  mother,  surrounded  by 
almost  all  the  people  who  had  gathered  there,  and  apparently 
telling  them  some  long  story.  An  attorney  named  Sinot, 
whose  clients  were  the  royalists  of  the  town  and  district,  and 
who  had  not  gone  to  the  Giguet  meeting,  stepped  out  of  the 
crowd,  and,  hurrying  up  to  Madame  Marion's  house,  rang  the 
bell  violently. 

"What  is  the  matter?"  asked  Frederic  Marest,  dropping 
his  eyeglass,  and  informing  the  other  two  of  this  proceeding. 

"The  matter,  gentlemen,"  replied  Antonin  Goulard,  see- 
ing no  occasion  for  keeping  a  secret  which  would  at  once  be 
told  by  others,  "  is  that  Charles  Keller  has  been  killed  in 
Africa,  an  event  which  gives  Simon  Giguet  every  chance  ! 
You  know  Arcis  ;  there  could  be  no  Ministerial  candidate 
other  than  Charles  Keller.  Parochial  patriotism  would  rise 
in  arms  against  any  other ' ' 


32  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"And  will  such  a  simpleton  be  elected?"  asked  Olivier 
Vinet,*  laughing. 

The  judge's  deputy,  a  young  fellow  of  three-and-twenty, 
the  eldest  son  of  a  very  famous  public  prosecutor,  whose  pro- 
motion dated  from  the  Revolution  of  July,  had,  of  course, 
been  helped  by  his  father's  interest  to  get  into  the  upper  ranks 
of  his  profession.  That  father,  still  a  public  prosecutor,  and 
returned  as  deputy  by  the  town  of  Provins,  is  one  of  the  but- 
tresses of  the  Centre. 

The  free-and-easy  air,  and  the  sort  of  judicial  conceit  as- 
sumed by  this  little  personage  on  the  strength  of  his  certainty 
of  "getting  on,"  annoyed  Frederic  Marest,  and  all  the  more 
because  a  very  biting  wit  effectually  supported  his  young 
subaltern's  undisciplined  freedom.  The  public  prosecutor 
himself,  a  man  of  forty,  who  had  waited  six  years  under  the 
Restoration  to  rise  to  the  post  of  first  deputy  judge,  and  whom 
the  Revolution  of  July  had  left  stranded  at  Arcis,  though  he 
had  eighteen  thousand  francs  a  year  of  his  own,  was  always 
torn  between  his  anxiety  to  win  the  good  graces  of  the  elder 
Vinet,  who  had  every  chance  of  becoming  keeper  of  the 
seals — an  office  commonly  conferred  on  a  lawyer  who  sits  in 
Parliament — and  the  necessity  for  preserving  his  own  dignity. 
Olivier  Vinet,  a  thin  stripling,  with  fair  hair  and  a  colorless 
face,  accentuated  by  a  pair  of  mischievous  greenish  eyes,  was 
one  of  those  mocking  spirits,  fond  of  pleasure,  who  can  at  any 
moment  assume  the  precise,  pedantic,  and  rather  abrupt  man- 
ner which  a  magistrate  puts  on  when  in  court. 

The  burly  public  prosecutor,  very  stout  and  solemn,  had, 
for  a  short  time  past,  adopted  a  method  by  which,  as  he 
hoped,  to  get  the  upper  hand  of  this  distracting  youth ;  he 
treated  him  as  a  father  treats  a  spoilt  child. 

"  Olivier,"  said  he  to  his  deputy,  patting  him  on  the 
shoulder,  "a  man  as  clear-sighted  as  you  are  must  see  that 
Maitre  Giguet  is  likely  enough  to  be  elected.  You  might 
*  Fraisier's  rival  in  "Cousin  Pons." 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  33 

have  blurted  out  that  speech  before  the  townsfolk  instead  of 
among  friends." 

"But  there  is  one  thing  against  Giguet,"  remarked  Mon- 
sieur Martener. 

This  worthy  young  fellow,  dull,  but  with  very  capable 
brains,  the  son  of  a  (ioctor  at  Provins,  owed  his  position  to 
Vinet's  father,  who,  during  the  long  years  when  be  had  been 
a  pleader  at  Provins,  had  patronized  the  townsfolk  there  as 
the  Comte  de  Gondreville  did  those  of  Arcis. 

"What?  "  asked  Antonin. 

"Parochial  feeling  is  tremendously  strong  against  a  man 
who  is  forced  on  the  electors,"  replied  the  judge ;  "but  when, 
in  a  place  like  Arcis,  the  alternative  is  the  elevation  of  one  of 
their  equals,  jealousy  and  envy  get  the  upper  hand  even  of 
local  feeling." 

"That  seems  simple  enough,"  said  the  public  prosecutor, 
"but  it  is  perfectly  true.  If  you  could  secure  only  fifty  Min- 
isterial votes,  you  would  not  unlikely  find  the  first  favorite 
here,"  and  he  glanced  at  Antonin  Goulard. 

"  It  will  be  enough  to  set  up  a  candidate  of  the  same  calibre 
to  oppose  Simon  Giguet,"  said  Olivier  Vinet. 

The  sub-prefect's  face  betrayed  such  satisfaction  as  could 
not  escape  the  eye  of  either  of  his  companions,  with  whom, 
indeed,  he  was  on  excellent  terms.  Bachelors  all,  and  all 
well  to  do,  they  had  without  premeditation  formed  a  defen- 
sive alliance  to  defy  the  dullness  of  a  country  town.  The 
other  three  were  already  aware  of  Goulard's  jealousy  of  Giguet, 
which  a  few  words  here  will  suffice  to  account  for. 

Antonin  Goulard,  whose  father  had  been  a  huntsman  in  the 
service  of  the  Simeuse  family,  enriched  by  investments  in 
nationalized  land,  was,  like  Simon  Giguet,  a  native  of  Arcis. 
Old  Goulard  left  the  Abbey  of  Valpreux — a  corruption  of 
Val-des-Preux — to  live  in  the  town  after  his  wife's  death,  and 
sent  his  son  Antonin  to  school  at  the  Lycee  Imperial,  where 
Colonel  Giguet  had  placed  his  boy, 
3 


34  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

In  spite  of  his  sufficiently  evident  personal  advantages,  and 
the  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,*  which  the  count  had  ob- 
tained for  Goulard  to  compensate  hinci  for  lack  of  promotion, 
and  which  he  displayed  at  his  button-hole,  the  offer  of  his  heart 
and  prospects  had  been  civilly  declined  when,  six  months 
before  the  day  when  this  narrative  opens,  Antonin  had  se- 
cretly called  on  Madame  Beauvisage  as  her  daughter's  suitor. 

As  they  walked  just  now,  they  both  had  guessed,  and  had 
told  each  other,  the  secret  of  Simon  Giguet's  candidature, 
for  they  had  got  wind,  the  night  before,  of  Madame  Marion's 
ambitions.  Animated  alike  by  the  spirit  of  the  dog  in  the 
manger,  they  were  tacitly  but  heartily  agreed  in  a  determi- 
nation to  hinder  the  young  lawyer  from  winning  the  wealthy 
heiress  who  had  been  refused  to  them. 

"  Heaven  grant  that  I  may  be  able  to  control  the  election  !  " 
said  the  sub-prefect,  "  and  the  Comte  de  Gondreville  may  get 
me  appointed  prefect,  for  I  have  no  more  wish  to  remain  here 
than  you  have,  though  I  am  a  native  born." 

*'You  have  a  very  good  opportunity  of  being  elected 
deputy,  sir,"  said  Olivier  Vinet  to  Marest.  "  Come  and  see 
my  father,  who  will,  no  doubt,  arrive  at  Provins  within  a  few 
hours,  and  we  will  get  him  to  have  you  nominated  as  the 
Ministerial  candidate." 

"  Stay  where  you  are,"  said  Goulard.  "  The  ministry  has 
ideas  of  its  own  as  to  its  candidate " 

*'  Pooh  !  Why,  there  are  two  ministries — one  that  hopes 
to  control  the  election,  and  one  that  means  to  profit  by  it," 
said  Vinet. 

"  Do  not  complicate  Antonin's  difficulties,"  replied  Fred- 
eric Marest,  with  a  knowing  wink  to  his  deputy. 

The  four  officials,  now  far  away  from  the  Avenue  des 
Soupirs,  crossed  the  market-place  to  the  Mulet  Inn  on  seeing 
Poupart  come  out  of  Madame  Marion's  house.     At  that  mo- 

*  The  Legion  of  Honor  has  five  ranks :  knights,  ofificers,  commanders, 
grand  officers,  grand-crosses. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  35 

merit,  in  fact,  the  sixty-seven  conspirators  were  pouring  out 
of  the  carriage  gate. 

"And  you  have  been  into  that  house?"  asked  Antonin 
Goulard,  pointing  to  the  wall  of  the  Marions'  garden,  backing 
on  the  Brienne  road  opposite  the  stables  of  the  Mulct. 

"And  I  go  there  no^jnore,  Monsieur  le  Sous-Prefet,"  re- 
turned the  innkeeper.  "  Monsieur  Keller's  son  is  dead ;  I 
have  nothing  more  to  do  with  it.  God  has  made  it  His  busi- 
ness to  clear  the  way " 

"Well,  Pigoult?"  said  Olivier  Vinet,  seeing  the  whole  of 
the  Opposition  coming  out  from  the  meeting. 

"Well,"  echoed  the  notary,  on  whose  brow  the  moisture 
still  testified  to  the  energy  of  his  efforts,  "  Sinot  has  just 
brought  us  news  which  resulted  in  unanimity.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  five  dissidents — Poupart,  my  grandfather,  Mollot, 
Sinot,  and  myself — they  have  all  sworn,  as  at  a  game  of  tennis, 
to  use  every  means  in  their  power  to  secure  the  return  of 
Simon  Giguet — of  whom  I  have  made  a  mortal  enemy.  We 
all  got  very  heated  !  At  any  rate,  I  got  the  Giguets  to  ful- 
minate against  the  Gondrevilles,  so  the  old  count  will  side 
with  me.  Not  later  than  to-morrow  he  shall  know  what  the 
self-styled  patriots  of  Arcis  said  about  him,  and  his  corruption, 
and  his  infamous  conduct,  so  as  to  shake  off  his  protection, 
or,  as  they  say,  his  yoke." 

"  And  they  are  unanimous  ?  "  said  Vinet,  with  a  smile. 

"To-day,"  replied  Monsieur  Martener. 

"Oh  !  "  cried  Pigoult,  "  the  general  feeling  is  in  favor  of 
electing  a  man  of  the  place.  Whom  can  you  find  to  set  up 
in  opposition  to  Simon  Giguet,  who  has  spent  two  mortal 
hours  in  preaching  on  the  word  Progress  !  " 

"  We  can  find  old  Grevin  !  "  cried  the  sub-prefect. 

"  He  has  no  ambition,"  said  Pigoult.  "  But  first  and  fore- 
most we  must  consult  the  count.  Just  look,"  he  went  on, 
"how  attentively  Simon  is  taking  care  of  that  old  noodle 
Beauvisage  !  " 


38  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

And  he  pointed  to  the  lawyer,  who  had  the  mayor  by  the 
arm,  and  was  talking  in  his  ear. 

Beauvisage  bowed  right  and  left  to  all  the  inhabitants,  who 
gazed  at  him  with  the  deference  of  country  towns-people  for 
the  richest  man  in  the  place. 

"  He  treats  him  as  a  father — and  mother  !  "  remarked  Vinet. 

**  Oh  !  he  will  do  no  good  by  buttering  him  up,"  replied 
Pigoult,  who  caught  the  hint  conveyed  in  Vinet's  retort. 
"  Cecile's  fate  does  not  rest  with  either  father  or  mother." 

"With  whom,  then?" 

**  My  old  master.  If  Simon  were  the  member  for  Arcis, 
he  would  be  no  forwarder  in  that  matter." 

Though  the  sub-prefect  and  Marest  pressed  Pigoult  hard, 
they  could  get  no  explanation  of  this  remark,  which,  as  they 
shrewdly  surmised,  was  big  with  meaning,  and  revealed  some 
acquaintance  with  the  intentions  of  the  Beauvisage  family. 

All  Arcis  was  in  a  pother,  not  only  in  consequence  of  the 
distressing  news  that  had  stricken  the  Gondrevilles,  but  also 
because  of  the  great  resolution  voted  at  the  Giguets' — where, 
at  this  moment,  Madame  Marion  and  the  servants  were  hard 
at  work  restoring  order,  that  everything  might  be  in  readiness 
for  the  company  who  would  undoubtedly  drop  in  as  usual  in 
the  evening  in  full  force,  attracted  by  curiosity. 

Champagne  looks,  and  is,  but  a  poor  country.  Its  aspect 
is  for  the  most  part  dreary,  a  dull  plain.  As  you  pass  through 
the  villages,  or  even  the  towns,  you  see  none  but  shabby 
buildings  of  timber  or  concrete ;  the  handsomest  are  of  brick. 
Stone  is  scarcely  used  even  for  public  buildings.  At  Arcis 
the  castle,  the  Palais  de  Justice,  and  the  church  are  the  only 
edifices  constructed  of  stone.  Nevertheless,  the  province — 
or,  at  any  rate,  the  departments  of  the  Aube,  the  Marne,  and 
the  Haute-Marne,  rich  in  the  vineyards  which  are  famous 
throughout  the  world — also  support  many  flourishing  indus- 
tries.    To  say  nothing  of  the  manufacturing  centre  at  Reims, 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  87 

almost  all  the  hosiery  of  every  kind  produced  in  France,  a 
very  considerable  trade,  is  woven  in  and  near  Troyes.  For 
ten  leagues  round  the  country  is  inhabited  by  stocking- 
weavers,  whose  frames  may  be  seen  through  the  open  doors  as 
you  pass  through  the  ^hamlets.  These  workers  deal  through 
factors  with  the  master  iipeculator,  who  calls  himself  a  manu- 
facturer. The  manufacturer  sells  to  Paris  houses,  or,  more 
often,  to  retail  hosiers,  who  stick  up  a  sign  proclaiming  them- 
selves manufacturing  hosiers. 

None  of  these  middlemen  ever  made  a  stocking,  or  a  night- 
cap, or  a  sock.  A  large  proportion  of  such  gear  comes  from 
Champagne — not  all,  for  there  are  weavers  in  Paris  who  com- 
pete with  the  country  workers. 

These  middlemen,  coming  between  the  producer  and  the 
consumer,  are  a  curse  not  peculiar  to  this  trade.  It  exists  in 
most  branches  of  commerce,  and  adds  to  the  price  of  the 
goods  all  the  profit'  taken  by  the  intermediary.  To  do  away 
with  these  expensive  go-betweens,  who  hinder  the  direct  sale 
of  manufactured  goods,  would  be  a  benevolent  achievement, 
and  the  magnitude  of  the  results  would  raise  it  to  the  level  of  a 
great  political  reform.  Industry  at  large  would  be  benefited, 
for  it  would  bring  about  such  a  reduction  of  prices  to  the 
home-consumer  as  is  needed  to  maintain  the  struggle  against 
foreign  competition,  a  battle  as  murderous  as  that  of  hostile 
armies. 

But  the  overthrow  of  such  an  abuse  as  this  would  not  secure 
to  our  modern  philanthropists  such  glory  or  such  profit  as  are 
to  be  obtained  by  fighting  for  the  Dead  Sea  apples  of  negro 
emancipation,  or  the  penitentiary  system  ;  hence  this  illicit 
commerce  of  the  middlemen,  the  producer's  banker,  will  weigh 
for  a  long  time  yet  on  the  workers  and  consumers  alike.  In 
France — so  clever  as  a  nation — it  is  always  supposed  that  sim- 
plification means  destruction.  We  are  still  frightened  by  the 
Revolution  of  1789. 

The  industrial  energy  that  always  thrives  in  a  land  where 


88  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

Nature  is  a  grudging  step-dame,  sufficiently  shows  what  progress 
agriculture  would  make  there  if  only  wealth  would  join  its 
partnership  with  the  land,  which  is  not  more  barren  in  Cham- 
pagne than  in  Scotland,  where  the  outlay  of  capital  has  worked 
miracles.  And  when  agriculture  shall  have  conquered  the 
unfertile  tracts  of  that  province,  when  industry  shall  have 
scattered  a  little  capital  on  the  chalk-fields  of  Champagne, 
prosperity  will  multiply  threefold.  The  land  is,  in  fact, 
devoid  of  luxury  and  the  dwelling-houses  are  bare  ;  but  Eng- 
lish comfort  will  find  its  way  thither,  money  will  acquire  that 
rapid  circulation  which  is  half  of  what  makes  wealth,  and 
which  is  now  beginning  in  many  of  the  torpid  districts  of 
France. 

Writers,  officials,  the  church  from  its  pulpits,  the  press  in 
its  columns — all  to  whom  chance  has  given  any  kind  of  in- 
fluence over  the  masses — ought  to  proclaim  it  again  and  again  : 
"Hoarding  is  a  social  crime."  The  miserliness  of  the  pro- 
vinces stagnates  the  vitality  of  the  industrial  mass  and  im- 
pairs the  health  of  the  nation.  The  little  town  of  Arcis,  for 
instance,  on  the  way  to  nowhere,  and  apparently  sunk  in 
complete  quiescence,  is  comparatively  rich  in  the  possession 
of  capital  slowly  amassed  in  the  hosiery  trade. 

Monsieur  Phileas  Beauvisage  was  the  Alexander — or,  if  you 
will,  the  Attila — of  his  native  town.  This  is  how  that  respect- 
able and  hard-working  man  had  conquered  the  dominion  of 
cotton.  He  was  the  only  surviving  child  of  the  Beauvisages, 
long  settled  on  the  fine  farm  of  Bellache,  part  of  the  Gondre- 
ville  estate;  and  in  1811  his  parents  made  a  considerable 
sacrifice  to  save  him  from  the  conscription  by  purchasing  a 
substitute.  Then  his  mother,  as  a  widow,  had  again,  in  1813, 
rescued  her  only  son  from  being  enlisted  in  the  Guards  by  the 
good  offices  of  the  Comte  de  Gondreville. 

In  1813  Phildas,  then  twenty-one,  had  for  three  years  past 
been  engaged  in  the  pacific  business  of  a  hosier.  The  lease 
of  the  farm  of  Bellache  having  run  out,  the  farmer's  widow 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  39 

decided  that  she  would  not  renew  it.  In  fact,  she  foresaw 
ample  occupation  for  her  old  age  in  watching  the  investment 
of  her  money. 

That  her  later  days  might  not  be  disturbed  by  anxiety,  she 
had  a  complete  valuation  made  by  Monsieur  Grevin,  the 
notary,  of  all  her  husband's  estate,  though  her  son  had  made 
no  claims  on  her;  and  his  share  was  found  to  amount  to 
about  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs.  The  good  woman 
had  not  to  sell  her  land,  most  of  it  purchased  from  Michu, . 
the  luckless  steward  of  the  Simeuse  family.  She  paid  her  son 
in  cash,  advising  him  to  buy  up  his  master's  business.  This 
old  Monsieur  Pigoult  was  the  son  of  the  old  justice  of  the 
peace,  and  his  affairs  were  already  in  such  disorder  that  his 
death,  as  has  been  hinted,  was  supposed  to  have  been  due  to 
his  own  act. 

Phileas  Beauvisage,  a  prudent  youth,  with  a  proper  respect 
for  his  mother,  had  soon  concluded  the  bargain  ;  and  as  he 
mherited  from  his  parents  the  bump  of  acquisitiveness,  as 
phrenologists  term  it,  his  youthful  zeal  was  thrown  into  the 
business,  which  seemed  to  him  immense,  and  which  he  pro- 
posed to  extend  by  speculation. 

The  Christian  name  Phileas,  which  may,  perhaps,  seem 
extraordinary,  was  one  of  the  many  whimsical  results  of  the 
Revolution.  The  Beauvisages,  as  connected  with  the  Simeuses, 
and  consequently  good  Catholics,  had  their  infant  baptized. 
The  cure  of  Cinq-Cygne,  the  Abbe  Goujet,  being  consulted 
by  the  farmers,  advised  them  to  take  Phildas  as  his  patron 
saint,  his  Greek  name  being  likely  to  find  favor  in  the  eyes 
of  the  municipality,  for  the  boy  was  born  at  a  time  when  chil- 
dren were  registered  by  the  strange  names  in  the  Republican 
kalendar. 

In  1814,  hosiery — as  a  rule,  a  fairly  regular  trade — was 
liable  to  all  the  ups  and  downs  of  the  cotton  market.  The 
price  of  cotton  depended  on  the  Emperor's  successes  or 
defeats ;  his  adversaries,  the  English  generals  in  Spain,  would 


40  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

say:  "The  town  is  ours;  send  up  the  bales."  Pigoult, 
Phil6as'  retiring  master,  supplied  his  weavers  in  the  country 
with  yarn.  At  the  time  when  he  sold  his  business  to  young 
Beauvisage,  he  had  in  stock  a  large  supply  of  cotton  yarns, 
purchased  when  they  were  at  the  dearest,  while  cotton  was 
now  being  brought  in  through  Lisbon  in  vast  quantities  at  six 
sous  the  kilogramme,  in  virtue  of  the  Emperor's  famous 
decree.  The  reaction  in  France,  caused  by  the  importation 
of  this  cheap  cotton,  brought  about  Pigoult's  death,  and  laid 
the  foundation  of  Beauvisage's  fortune;  for  he,  instead  of 
losing  his  head  like  his  old  master,  bought  up  twice  as  much 
cotton  as  his  predecessor  had  in  stock,  and  so  struck  a  medium 
average  price.  This  simple  transaction  enabled  Phileas  to 
triple  his  output  of  manufactured  goods,  while  apparently  a 
benefactor  to  the  workers ;  and  he  could  sell  his  produce  in 
Paris  and  the  provinces  at  a  profit  when  others  were  merely 
recovering  the  cost  price.  By  the  beginning  of  1814  his 
manufactured  stock  was  exhausted. 

The  prospect  of  war  on  French  soil,  which  would  be  espe- 
cially disastrous  to  Champagne,  made  him  cautious.  He 
manufactured  no  more  goods,  and  by  realizing  his  capital  in 
solid  gold,  stood  prepared  for  the  event.  At  that  time  the 
custom-houses  were  a  dead  letter.  Napoleon  had  been  obliged 
to  enlist  his  thirty  thousand  customs  officials  to  defend  the 
country.  Cotton,  smuggled  in  through  a  thousand  gaps  in 
the  hedge,  was  flung  into  every  market.  It  is  impossible  to 
give  an  idea  of  the  liveliness  and  cunning  of  cotton  at  that 
date,  or  of  the  avidity  with  which  the  English  clutched  at  a 
country  where  cotton  stockings  were  worth  six  francs  a  pair, 
and  cambric  shirts  were  an  article  of  luxury. 

Manufacturers  on  a  smaller  scale  and  the  master  workmen, 
counting  on  Napoleon's  genius  and  luck,  had  invested  in 
cotton  coming  through  Spain.  This  they  were  working  up, 
in  the  hope  of  presently  dictating  terms  to  the  Paris  retail 
stores.     All  this  Phildas  noted.     Then,  when  the  province 


THE   DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  41 

was  devastated  by  war,  he  stood  between  the  army  and  Paris. 
As  each  battle  was  lost  he  went  to  the  weavers  who  had  hidden 
their  goods  in  casks — silos  of  hosiery — and,  cash  in  hand,  this 
Cossack  of  the  trade,  going  from  village  to  village,  bought  up, 
below  cost  price,  these  barrels  of  stockings,  which  might  fall 
any  day  into  the  haiiek  of  foes  whose  feet  wanted  covering  as 
badly  as  their  throats  wanted  liquor. 

At  this  period  of  disaster,  Phileas  displayed  a  degree  of 
energy  that  was  almost  a  match  for  the  Emperor's.  This 
captain  of  the  hosiery  trade  fought  the  commercial  campaign 
of  18:4  with  a  courage  that  remains  unrecognized.  One 
league  behind,  wherever  the  general  was  one  league  in  advance, 
he  bought  up  cotton  nightcaps  and  stockings  as  his  trophies, 
while  the  Emperor  in  his  reverses  plucked  immortal  palms. 
The  genius  was  equal  in  both,  though  exercised  in  widely 
different  spheres,  since  one  was  eager  to  cover  as  many  heads 
as  the  other  hoped  to  fell.  Compelled  to  create  means  of 
transport  to  save  his  casks  full  of  stockings,  which  he  stored 
in  a  Paris  suburb,  Phileas  often  requisitioned  horses  and 
wagons,  as  though  the  safety  of  the  Empire  depended  on  him. 
And  was  not  the  majesty  of  Trade  as  good  as  that  of  Napo- 
leon? Had  not  the  English  merchants,  after  subsidizing 
Europe,  got  the  upper  hand  of  the  giant  who  threatened  their 
ships? 

While  the  Emperor  was  abdicating  at  Fontainebleau,  Phileas 
was  the  triumphant  master  of  the  "article."  As  a  result  of 
his  clever  manceuvres,  the  price  of  cotton  was  kept  down,  and 
he  had  doubled  his  fortune  when  many  manufacturers  thought 
themselves  lucky  to  get  rid  of  their  goods  at  a  loss  of  fifty  per 
cent.  He  returned  to  Arcis  with  three  hundred  thousand 
francs,  half  of  which,  invested  in  the  Funds,  brought  him 
fifteen  thousand  francs  a  year.  One  hundred  thousand  he 
used  to  double  the  capital  needed  for  his  business ;  and  he 
spent  the  remainder  in  building,  decorating,  and  furnishing  a 
fine  house  in  the  Place  du  Pont,  at  Arcis, 


42  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

On  his  return  in  triumph,  the  hosier  naturally  confided  his 
story  to  Monsieur  Grevin,  The  notary  had  a  daughter  to 
marry,  just  twenty  years  of  age.  Grevin's  father-in-law,  who 
for  forty  years  had  practiced  as  a  doctor  at  Arcis,  was  at  that 
time  still  alive.  Grevin  was  a  widower ;  he  knew  that  old 
Madame  Beauvisage  was  rich ;  he  believed  in  the  energy  and 
capacity  of  a  young  man  who  had  thus  boldly  utilized  the 
campaign  of  1814.  Severine  Grevin's  fortune  from  her  mother 
was  sixty  thousand  francs.  What  was  old  Dr.  Varlet  to  leave 
her  ?  As  much  again,  at  most !  Grevin  was  already  fifty ; 
he  was  very  much  afraid  of  dying;  he  saw  no  chance,  after 
the  Restoration,  of  marrying  his  daughter  as  he  would  wish — 
for  her  he  was  ambitious. 

Under  these  circumstances,  he  contrived  to  have  it  sug- 
gested to  Phileas  that  he  should  propose  for  Severine.  Made- 
moiselle Grevin,  well  brought  up  and  handsome,  was  regarded 
as  one  of  the  good  matches  of  the  town.  Also,  the  connec- 
tion with  the  most  intimate  friend  of  the  Comte  de  Gondre- 
ville,  who  retained  his  dignity  as  a  peer  of  France,  was,  of 
course,  an  honor  for  the  son  of  one  of  the  Gondreville 
farmers.  The  widow  would,  indeed,  have  made  a  sacrifice  to 
achieve  it.  But  when  she  heard  that  her  son's  suit  was  suc- 
cessful, she  held  her  hand,  and  gave  him  nothing,  an  act  of 
prudence  in  which  the  notary  followed  suit.  And  thus  the 
marriage  was  brought  about  between  the  son  of  the  farmer 
who  had  been  so  faithful  to  the  Simeuses,  and  the  daughter  of 
one  of  their  most  determined  enemies.  This,  perhaps,  was 
the  only  instance  in  which  Louis  XVIII. 's  motto  found 
application — "  Union  et  oubli^^  (union  and  oblivion). 

When  the  Bourbons  returned  for  the  second  time,  old  Dr. 
Varlet  died,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six,  leaving  in  his  cellar 
two  hundred  thousand  francs  in  gold,  beside  other  property 
valued  at  an  equal  sum.  Thus,  in  1816,  Phileas  and  his  wife 
found  themselves  possessed  of  thirty  thousand  francs  a  year, 
apart  from  the  profits  of  the  business ;  for  Grevin  wished  to 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  43 

invest  his  daughter's  money  in  land,  and  Beauvisage  made  no 
objection.  The  interest  on  Severine  Grevin's  share  of  her 
grandfather's  money  amounted  to  scarcely  fifteen  thousand 
francs  a  year,  in  spite  of  the  good  opportunities  for  invest- 
ment which  Grevin  kept  a  lookout  for. 

The  two  first  years-  of  married  life  were  enough  to  show 
Grevin  and  his  daughter  how  incapable  Phileas  really  was. 
The  hawk's  eye  of  commercial  greed  had  seemed  to  be  the 
effect  of  superior  capacity,  and  the  old  notary  had  mistaken 
youthfulness  for  power,  and  luck  for  a  talent  for  business. 
But  though  Phileas  could  read  and  write,  and  do  sums  to 
admiration,  he  had  never  read  a  book.  Miserably  ignorant, 
conversation  with  him  was  out  of  the  question  ;  he  could  re- 
spond by  a  deluge  of  commonplace,  expressed  pleasantly 
enough.  But,  as  the  son  of  a  farmer,  he  was  not  wanting  in 
commercial  acumen. 

Other  men  must  be  plain  with  him,  clear  and  explicit ;  but 
he  never  was  the  same  to  his  adversary. 

Tender  and  kind-hearted,  Phileas  wept  at  the  least  touch  of 
pathos.  This  made  him  reverent  to  his  wife,  whose  superi- 
ority filled  him  with  unbounded  admiration.  Severine,  a 
woman  of  brains,  knew  everything — according  to  Phileas. 
And  she  was  all  the  more  accurate  in  her  judgments  because 
she  consulted  her  father  on  every  point.  Also,  she  had  a  very 
firm  temper,  and  this  made  her  absolute  mistress  in  her  own 
house.  As  soon  as  this  point  was  gained,  the  old  notary  felt 
less  regret  at  seeing  his  daughter  happy  through  a  mastery 
which  is  always  gratifying  to  a  wife  of  determined  character. 
Still,  there  was  the  woman  ! 

This,  it  was  said,  was  what  befell  the  woman. 

At  the  time  of  the  reaction  of  1815,  a  certain  Vicomte  de 
Chargebceuf,  of  the  poorer  branch,  was  appointed  sub-prefect 
at  Arcis  by  the  influence  of  the  Marquise  de  Cinq-Cygne,  to 
whom  he  was  related.  This  young  gentleman  remained  there 
as  sub-prefect  for  five  years.     Handsome  Madame  Beauvisage, 


44  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

it  was  said,  had  something  to  do  with  the  long  stay — much 
too  long  for  his  advantage — made  by  the  vicomte  in  this 
small  post.  At  the  same  time,  it  must  at  once  be  said  that 
these  hints  were  never  justified  by  the  scandals  which  betray 
such  love  affairs,  so  difficult  to  conceal  from  the  Argus  eyes  of 
a  small  country  town.  "  If  S6verine  loved  the  Vicomte  de 
Chargeboeuf,  if  he  loved  her,  it  was  a  blameless  and  honora- 
ble attachment,"  said  all  the  friends  of  the  Grdvins  and  the 
Marions.  And  these  two  sets  imposed  their  opinion  on  tlie 
immediate  neighborhood.  But  the  Grevins  and  the  Marions 
had  no  influence  over  the  Royalists,  and  the  Royalists  de- 
clared that  the  sub-prefect  was  a  happy  man. 

As  soon  as  the  Marquise  de  Cinq-Cygne  heard  what  was 
rumored  as  to  her  young  relation,  she  sent  for  him  to  Cinq- 
Cygne  ;  and  so  great  was  her  horror  of  all  who  were  ever  so 
remotely  connected  with  the  actors  in  the  judicial  tragedy 
that  had  been  so  fatal  to  her  family,  that  she  desired  the  vis- 
count to  live  elsewhere.  She  got  him  appointed  to  Sancerre 
as  sub-prefect,  promising  to  secure  his  promotion.  Some 
acute  observers  asserted  that  the  viscount  had  pretended  to  be 
in  love,  so  as  to  be  made  prefect,  knowing  how  deeply  the 
marquise  hated  the  name  of  Grevin.  Others,  on  the  other 
hand,  remarked  on  the  coincidence  of  the  Vicomte  de  Charge- 
boeuf's  visits  to  Paris  with  those  made  by  Madame  Beauvisage 
under  the  most  trivial  pretexts.  An  impartial  historian  would 
find  it  very  difficult  to  form  an  opinion  as  to  facts  thus  en- 
wrapped in  the  mystery  of  private  life. 

A  single  circumstance  seemed  to  turn  the  scale  in  favor  of 
scandal.  Cecile-Renee  Beauvisage  was  born  in  1820,  when 
Monsieur  de  Chargeboeuf  was  leaving  Arcis,  and  one  of  the 
sous-prefet's  names  was  Ren6.  The  name  was  given  her  by 
the  Comte  de  Gondreville,  her  godfather.  If  the  mother  had 
raised  any  objection  to  her  child's  having  that  name,  she 
might  possibly  have  confirmed  these  suspicions ;  and  as  the 
world  must  always  be  in  the  right,  this  was  supposed  to  be  a 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  46 

little  bit  of  mischief  on  the  part  of  the  old  peer.  Madame 
Keller,  the  count's  daughter,  was  the  godmother,  and  her 
name  was  Cecile. 

As  to  Cecile-Renee  Beauvisage's  face,  the  likeness  is  strik- 
ing ! — not  to  her  father  or  her  mother  ;  as  time  goes  on,  she 
has  become  the  li^'iHg  image  of  the  viscount,  even  to  his 
aristocratic  manner.  This  likeness,  moral  and  physical,  has 
however  escaped  the  ken  of  the  good  folk  of  Arcis,  for  the 
vicomte  never  returned  there. 

At  any  rate,  Severine  made  Phileas  happy  in  his  own  way. 
He  was  fond  of  good  living  and  the  comforts  of  life;  she 
gave  him  the  choicest  wines,  a  table  fit  for  a  bishop,  catered 
for  by  the  best  cook  in  the  department ;  but  she  made  no  dis- 
play of  luxury,  keeping  house  in  the  style  required  by  the 
plain  citizens  of  Arcis.  It  was  a  saying  at  Arcis  that  you 
should  dine  with  Madame  Beauvisage,  and  spend  the  evening 
with  Madame  Marion. 

The  importance  to  which  the  House  of  Cinq-Cygne  was  at 
once  raised  by  the  Restoration  had  naturally  tightened  the 
bonds  that  held  together  all  the  families  in  the  district  who 
had  been  in  any  way  concerned  in  the  trial  as  to  the  tem- 
porary disappearance  of  Gondreville.  The  Marions,  the 
Grevins,  and  the  Giguets  held  together  all  the  more  closely 
because,  to  secure  the  triumph  of  their  so-called  constitutional 
party  at  the  coming  elections,  harmonious  cooperation  would 
be  necessary. 

Severine,  of  aforethought,  kept  Beauvisage  busy  with  his 
hosiery  trade,  from  which  any  other  man  might  have  retired, 
sending  him  to  Paris  or  about  the  country  on  business.  In- 
deed, till  1830,  Phileas,  who  thus  found  work  for  his  bump 
of  acquisitiveness,  earned  every  year  as  much  as  he  spent,  be- 
side the  interest  on  his  capital,  while  taking  things  easy  and 
doing  his  work  "in  slippers,"  as  they  say.  Hence,  the  in- 
terest and  fortune  of  Monsieur  and  Madame  Beauvisage,  in- 
vested for  fifteen  years  past  by  the  constant  care  of  old  Grevin, 


46  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

would  amount,  in  1830,  to  five  hundred  thousand  francs. 
This,  in  fact,  was  at  that  time  Cecile's  marriage-portion  ;  and 
the  old  notary  invested  it  in  three  and  a  half  per  cents, 
bought  at  fifty,  and  so  yielding  thirty  thousand  francs  a  year. 
So  no  one  was  mistaken  when  estimating  the  fortune  of  the 
Beauvisages  at  a  guess  at  eighty  thousand  francs  a  year. 

In  1830  they  sold  the  business  to  Jean  Violette,  one  of 
their  agents,  the  grandson  of  one  of  the  most  important 
witnesses  for  the  prosecution  in  the  Simeuse  trial,  and  had 
invested  the  purchase-money,  estimated  at  three  hundred 
thousand  francs.  And  Monsieur  and  Madame  Beauvisage 
had  still  in  prospect  the  money  that  would  come  to  them 
from  old  Grevin  and  from  the  old  farmer's  widow,  each  sup- 
posed to  be  worth  fifteen  to  twenty  thousand  francs  a  year. 

These  great  provincial  fortunes  are  the  product  of  time 
multiplied  by  economy.  Thirty  years  of  old  age  are  in  them- 
selves a  capital.  Even  if  they  gave  Cecile  a  portion  of  fifty 
thousand  francs  a  year.  Monsieur  and  Madame  Beauvisage 
would  still  inherit  two  fortunes,  beside  keeping  thirty  thou- 
sand francs  a  year  and  their  house  at  Arcis. 

As  soon  as  the  old  Marquise  de  Cinq-Cygne  should  die, 
Cecile  would  be  an  acceptable  match  for  the  young  marquis ; 
but  that  lady's  health — strong,  and  almost  handsome  still  at 
the  age  of  sixty — negatived  any  such  hope,  if,  indeed,  it  had 
ever  entered  into  the  mind  of  Grevin  and  his  daughter,  as 
some  persons  asserted  who  were  surprised  at  the  rejection  of 
suitors  so  eligible  as  the  sub-prefect  and  the  public  prosecutor. 

The  house  built  by  Beauvisage,  one  of  the  handsomest  in 
Arcis,  stands  in  the  Place  du  Pont,  in  a  line  with  the  Rue 
Vide-Bourse,  and  at  the  corner  of  the  Rue  du  Pont,  which 
slopes  up  to  the  Church  Square.  Though,  like  many  pro- 
vincial town-houses,  it  has  neither  forecourt  nor  garden,  it 
has  a  rather  good  effect  in  spite  of  some  bad  taste  in  the 
decorations.  The  house  door — a  double  door — opens  from  the 
gtreet.    The  windows  pn  the  first  floor  pverlook  the  Poste 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  47 

Inn,  on  the  street  side,  and  on  the  side  toward  the  square 
have  a  view  of  the  picturesque  reaches  of  the  Aube,  which  is 
navigable  below  this  bridge.  On  the  other  side  of  the  bridge 
is  a  corresponding  place  or  square.  Here  stood  Monsieur 
Grevin's  house,  and  here  begins  the  road  to  Sezanne. 

The  Beauvisage  house,  carefully  painted  white,  might  pass 
for  being  built  of  stone.  The  height  of  the  windows  and  the 
enriched  outside  mouldings  contribute  to  give  the  building 
a  certain  style,  enhanced,  no  doubt,  by  the  poverty-stricken 
appeaiance  of  most  of  the  houses  in  the  town,  constructed  as 
they  are  of  timber,  and  coated  with  stucco  made  to  imitate 
stone.  Still,  even  these  dwellings  have  a  stamp  of  originality, 
since  each  architect,  or  each  owner,  has  exerted  his  ingenuity 
to  solve  the  problems  of  this  mode  of  construction. 

On  each  of  the  open  spaces  at  either  end  of  the  bridge,  an 
example  may  be  seen  of  this  peculiar  architecture.  In  the 
middle  of  the  row  of  houses  in  the  square,  to  the  left  of  the 
Beauvisage  house,  may  be  seen  the  frail  store — the  walls 
painted  plum-color,  and  the  woodwork  green — occupied  by 
Jean  Violette,  grandson  of  the  famous  farmer  of  Grouage,  one 
of  the  chief  witnesses  in  the  case  of  the  senator's  disappear- 
ance;* to  him,  in  1830,  Beauvisage  had  made  over  his  con- 
nection and  his  stock-in-trade,  and,  it  was  said,  had  lent  him 
capital. 

The  bridge  of  Arcis  is  of  timber.  At  about  a  hundred 
yards  above  this  bridge  the  current  is  checked  by  another 
bridge  supporting  the  tall  wooden  buildings  of  a  mill  with 
several  wheels.  The  space  between  the  road  bridge  and  this 
private  dam  forms  a  pool,  on  each  side  of  which  stand  some 
good  houses.  Through  a  gap,  and  over  the  roofs,  the  hill  is 
seen  where  stands  the  Chateau  d'Arcis,  with  its  gardens,  its 
paddock,  its  surrounding  walls  and  trees,  commanding  the 
upper  river  of  the  Aube  and  the  poor  meadows  of  the  left 
l)ank. 

*  These  allusions  are  explained  ya,  "A  Historical  Mystery." 


48  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

The  character  of  the  buildings  is  so  various  that  the  tourist 
might  find  a  specimen  representative  of  every  country.  On 
the  North  side  of  the  pool,  where  ducks  sport  and  gobble  in 
the  water,  there  is,  for  instance,  an  almost  Southern-looking 
house  with  an  incurved  roof  covered  with  pantiles,  such  as 
are  used  in  Italy ;  on  one  side  of  it  is  a  small  garden  plot  on 
the  quay  in  which  vines  grow  over  a  trellis,  and  two  or  three 
trees.  It  recalls  some  corner  of  Rome,  where,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Tiber,  houses  of  this  type  may  be  seen.  Opposite,  on 
the  other  shore,  is  a  large  dwelling  with  a  pent-house  roof 
and  balconies  like  those  of  a  Swiss  chalet ;  to  complete  the 
illusion,  between  it  and  the  weir  lies  a  wide  meadow,  planted 
with  poplars  on  each  side  of  a  narrow  graveled  path.  And, 
crowning  the  town,  the  buildings  of  the  castle,  looking  all 
the  more  imposing  as  it  stands  up  amid  such  frail  structures, 
seem  to  represent  the  one-time  grandeur  of  the  old  French 
aristocracy. 

Though  the  two  squares  at  the  ends  of  the  bridge  are  inter- 
sected by  the  Sezanne  road,  an  abominable  road  too,  and  very 
ill  kept,  and  though  they  are  the  liveliest  spots  in  the  town — 
for  the  offices  of  the  justice  of  the  peace  and  of  the  mayor  of 
Arcis  are  both  in  the  Rue  Vide-Bourse — a  Parisian  would 
think  the  place  strangely  rustic  and  deserted.  The  landscape 
is  altogether  artless  ;  standing  on  the  square  by  the  bridge, 
opposite  the  Poste  Inn,  a  farmyard  pump  is  to  be  seen  ;  to  be 
sure,  for  nearly  half  a  century  a  similar  one  commanded  our 
admiration  in  the  grand  courtyard  of  the  Louvre. 

Nothing  can  more  aptly  illustrate  provincial  life  than  the 
utter  silence  that  reigns  in  this  little  town,  even  in  its  busiest 
quarter.  It  may  easily  be  supposed  how  agitating  is  the  pres- 
ence of  a  stranger,  even  if  he  stays  but  half  a  day,  and  what 
eager  faces  lean  from  every  window  to  watch  him  ;  and,  then, 
picture  the  chronic  espionage  exercised  by  the  residents  over 
each  other.  Life  becomes  so  nearly  monastic  that,  excepting 
on  Sundays  and  f&te-days,  a  visitor  will  not  meet  a  creature 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR   ARCIS.  49 

on  the  boulevards  or  in  the  Avenue  des  Soupirs — nowhere,  in 
short,  not  even  in  the  streets. 

It  will  now  be  obvious  why  the  front  of  Monsieur  Beau- 
visage's  house  was  in  a  line  with  the  street  and  the  square : 
the  square  served  as  a  forecourt.  As  he  sat  at  the  window, 
the  retired  hosier  couki  get  a  raking  view  of  the  Church 
Square,  of  those  at  the  two  ends  of  the  bridge,  and  of  the 
Sezanne  road.  He  could  see  the  coaches  and  travelers  arrive 
at  the  Hotel  de  la  Poste.  And  on  days  when  the  court  was 
sitting,  he  could  see  the  stir  in  front  of  the  justice-house  and 
the  mairie.  And,  indeed,  Beauvisage  would  not  have  ex- 
changed his  house  for  the  castle  in  spite  of  its  lordly  appear- 
ance, its  stone  masonry,  and  its  commanding  position. 

On  entering  the  house,  you  found  yourself  in  a  hall,  and 
facing  a  staircase  beyond.  On  the  right  was  a  large  drawing- 
room,  with  two  windows  to  the  square,  on  the  left  a  handsome 
dining-room  looking  on  to  the  street.  The  bedrooms  were 
on  the  second  floor. 

In  spite  of  their  wealth,  the  Beauvisage  household  consisted 
of  a  cook  and  a  housemaid,  a  peasant-woman  who  washed, 
ironed,  and  cleaned,  not  often  being  required  to  wait  on  ma- 
dame  and  mademoiselle,  who  waited  on  each  other  to  fill  up 
their  time.  Since  the  hosiery  business  had  been  sold,  the 
horse  and  trap,  formerly  used  by  Phileas,  and  kept  at  the  inn, 
had  also  been  disposed  of. 

Just  as  Phileas  went  in,  his  wife,  who  had  been  informed  of 
the  resolution  passed  at  the  meeting,  had  put  on  her  shoes 
and  her  shawl  to  call  on  her  father ;  for  she  rightly  guessed 
that  in  the  course  of  the  evening  Madame  Marion  would 
throw  out  some  hints  preliminary  to  proposing  Simon  for 
Cecile. 

After  telling  her  about  Charles  Keller's  death,  Phileas  asked 
her  opinion  with  a  simplicity  that  proved  a  habit  of  respecting 
Severine's  views  on  all  subjects. 
4 


60  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"What  do  you  say  to  that,  wife?"  said  he,  and  then  sat 
down  to  await  her  reply. 

In  1839  Madame  Beauvisage,  though  forty-four  years  of  age, 
still  looked  so  young  that  she  might  have  been  the  "double" 
of  Mademoiselle  Mars.  If  the  reader  can  remember  the 
most  charming  Celim^ne  ever  seen  on  the  stage  of  the  Fran- 
?ais,  he  may  form  an  exact  idea  of  Severine  Beauvisage. 
There  were  in  both  the  same  roundness  of  form,  the  same 
beautiful  features,  the  same  finished  outline ;  but  the  hosier's 
wife  was  too  short,  and  thus  missed  the  dignified  grace,  the 
coquettish,  the  la  Shngne  style,  which  dwell  in  the  memory  of 
those  who  have  lived  through  the  Empire  and  the  Restoration. 
And  then  provincial  habits,  and  the  careless  way  of  dressing 
which  Severine  had  allowed  herself  to  drift  into  for  ten  years 
past,  gave  a  common  look  to  that  handsome  profile  and  fine  fea- 
tures, and  she  had  grown  stout,  which  disfigured  what  for  the 
first  twelve  years  of  her  married  life  had  been  really  a  magnifi- 
cent person.  Severine's  imperfections  were  redeemed  by  a 
queenly  glance,  full  of  pride  and  command,  and  by  a  turn  of 
the  head  that  asserted  her  dignity.  Her  hair,  still  black,  long, 
and  thick,  crowning  her  head  with  a  broad  plait,  gave  her 
a  youthful  look.  Her  shoulders  and  bosom  were  as  white 
as  snow,  but  all  too  full  and  puffy,  spoiling  the  lines  of 
the  throat  and  making  it  too  short.  Her  arms,  too  stout  and 
dimpled,  ended  in  hands  which,  though  pretty  and  small,  were 
too  plump.  She  was  so  overfull  of  life  and  health  that  the 
flesh,  in  spite  of  all  her  care,  made  a  little  roll  above  her  shoe. 
A  pair  of  earrings,  without  pendants,  each  worth  a  thousand 
crowns,  adorned  her  ears. 

She  had  on  a  lace  cap  with  pink  ribbons,  a  morning-gown 
of  delaine,  striped  in  pink  and  gray,  and  trimmed  with  green, 
opening  over  a  petticoat  with  a  narrow  frill  of  Valenciennes 
lace  edging,  and  a  green  Indian  shawl,  of  which  the  point 
hung  to  the  ground.  Her  feet  did  not  seem  comfortable  in 
their  bronze  kid  shoes. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  51 

"  You  cannot  be  so  hungry,"  said  she,  looking  at  her  hus- 
band, "  but  that  you  caii  wait  half  an  hour.  My  father  will 
have  finished  dinner,  but  I  cannot  eat  mine  in  comfort  till  I 
know  what  he  thinks,  and  whether  we  ought  to  go  out  to 
Gondreville " 

*'  Yes,  yes,  go,  ray  d€ar ;  I  can  wait,"  said  the  hosier. 

"  Bless  me  !  shall  I  never  cure  you  of  addressing  me  as 
tu  ?  "*  she  exclaimed,  with  a  meaning  shrug. 

"I  have  never  done  so  in  company  by  any  chance — since 
1817,"  replied  Phileas. 

"But  you  constantly  do  so  before  your  daughter  and  the 
servants " 

"As  you  please,  Severine,"  said  Beauvisage  dejectedly. 

"Above  all  things,  do  not  say  a  word  to  Cecile  about  the 
resolution  of  the  electors,"  added  Madame  Beauvisage,  who 
was  looking  at  herself  in  the  glass  while  arranging  her  shawl. 

"  Shall  I  go  with  you  to  see  your  father?  "  asked  Phileas. 

**  No ;  stay  with  Cecile.  Beside,  Jean  Violette  is  to  call 
to-day  to  pay  the  rest  of  the  money  he  owes  you.  He  will 
bring  you  his  twenty  thousand  francs.  This  is  the  third  time 
he  has  asked  for  three  months'  grace ;  grant  him  no  more 
time,  and  if  he  cannot  pay  up,  take  his  note  of  hand  to  Courtet 
the  bailiff;  we  must  do  things  regularly,  and  apply  to  the 
court.  Achille  Pigoult  will  tell  you  how  to  get  the  money. 
That  Violette  is  the  worthy  descendant  of  his  grandfather  !  I 
believe  him  quite  capable  of  making  money  out  of  a  bank- 
ruptcy.    He  has  no  sense  of  honor  or  justice." 

"  He  is  a  very  clever  fellow,"  said  Beauvisage. 

"You  handed  over  to  him  a  connection  and  stock-in-trade 
that  were  well  worth  fifty  thousand  francs  for  thirty  thousand, 
and  in  eight  years  he  has  only  paid  you  ten  thousand " 

"I  never  had  the  law  of  any  man,"  replied  Beauvisage, 

*Tu  (thou)  instead  of  vous  (you)  is  used  in  domestic  and  familiar  in- 
tercourse.— Translator. 


52  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"and  would  rather  lose  my  money  than  torment  the  poor 
fellow " 

"A  poor  fellow  who  is  making  a  fool  of  you." 

Beauvisage  was  silent.  Finding  nothing  to  say  in  reply  to 
this  brutal  remark,  he  stared  at  the  drawing-room  floor. 

The  gradual  extinction  of  Beauvisage's  intellect  was  perhaps 
due  to  too  much  sleep.  He  was  in  bed  every  night  by  eight 
o'clock,  and  remained  there  till  eight  next  morning,  and  for 
twenty  years  had  slept  for  twelve  hours  on  end  without  ever 
waking ;  or,  if  such  a  serious  event  should  supervene,  it  was  to 
him  the  most  extraordinary  fact — he  would  talk  about  it  all 
day.  He  then  spent  about  an  hour  dressing,  for  his  wife  had 
drilled  him  into  never  appearing  in  her  presence  at  breakfast 
till  he  was  shaved,  washed,  and  properly  dressed. 

When  he  was  in  business  he  went  off  after  breakfast  to  attend 
to  it,  and  did  not  come  in  till  dinner-time.  Since  1832  he 
would  call  on  his  father-in-law  instead,  and  take  a  walk  or 
pay  visits  in  the  town.  He  always  was  seen  in  boots,  blue 
cloth  trousers,  a  white  vest,  and  a  blue  coat,  the  dress  insisted 
on  by  his  wife.  His  linen  was  exquisitely  fine  and  white, 
Severine  requiring  him  to  have  a  clean  shirt  every  day.  This 
care  of  his  person,  so  unusual  in  the  country,  contributed  to 
the  respect  in  which  he  was  held,  as  in  Paris  we  remark  a  man 
of  fashion. 

Thus  the  outer  man  of  this  worthy  and  solemn  nightcap- 
seller  denoted  a  person  of  worship ;  and  his  wife  was  too 
shrewd  ever  to  have  said  a  word  that  could  let  the  public  of 
Arcis  into  the  secret  of  her  disappointment  and  of  her  hus- 
band's ineptitude;  while  he,  by  dint  of  smiles,  obsequious 
speeches,  and  airs  of  wealth,  passed  muster  as  a  man  of  great 
importance.  It  was  reported  that  Severine  was  so  jealous  that 
she  would  not  allow  him  to  go  out  in  the  evening,  while 
Phileas  was  expressing  roses  and  lilies  for  his  complexion 
under  the  weight  of  blissful  slumbers. 

Beauvisage,  whose  life  was  quite  to  his  mind,  cared  for  by 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  63 

his  wife,  well  served  by  the  two  maids,  and  petted  by  his 
daughter,  declared  himself — and  was — the  happiest  man  in 
Arcis.  Severine's  feeling  for  her  commonplace  husband  was 
not  without  the  hue  of  protective  pity  that  a  mother  feels  for 
her  children.  She  disguised  the  stern  remarks  she  felt  called 
upon  to  make  to  him  uiider  a  jesting  tone.  There  was  not  a 
more  peaceful  household ;  and  Phileas'  dislike  to  company, 
which  sent  him  to  sleep,  as  he  could  not  play  any  games  of 
cards,  had  left  Severine  free  to  dispose  of  her  evenings. 

Cecile's  entrance  put  an  end  to  her  father's  embarrassment. 
He  looked  up. 

"  How  fine  you  are  !  "  he  exclaimed. 

Madame  Beauvisage  turned  round  sharply  with  a  piercing 
look  at  her  daughter,  who  blushed  under  it. 

"  Why,  Cecile  !  who  told  you  to  dress  up  in  that  style?" 
asked  the  mother. 

"Are  we  not  going  to  Madame  Marion's  this  evening?  I 
dressed  to  see  how  my  gown  fits." 

"Cecile,  Cecile!"  said  Severine,  "why  try  to  deceive 
your  mother  ?  It  is  not  right ;  I  am  not  pleased  with  you. 
You  are  trying  to  hide  something " 

"  Why,  what  has  she  done  ?  "  asked  Beauvisage,  enchanted 
to  see  his  daughter  so  fresh  and  smart. 

"What  has  she  done?  I  will  tell  her,"  said  the  mother, 
threatening  her  only  child  with  an  ominous  finger. 

Cecile  threw  her  arms  round  her  mother's  neck,  hugged 
and  petted  her,  which,  in  an  only  child,  is  a  sure  way  of  win- 
ning the  day. 

Cecile  Beauvisage,  a  young  lady  of  nineteen,  had  dressed 
herself  in  a  pale  gray  silk  frock,  trimmed  with  brandenburgs 
of  a  darker  shade  to  look  in  front  like  a  coat.  The  body, 
with  its  buttons  and  jockey  tails,  formed  a  point  in  front,  and 
laced  up  the  back,  like  stays.  This  sort  of  corset  fitted  exactly 
to  the  line  of  the  back,  hips  and  bust.  The  skirt,  with  three 
rows  of  narrow  fringe,  hung  in  pretty  folds,  and  the  cut  and 


54  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

style  proclaimed  the  hand  of  a  Paris  dressmaker.  A  light 
handkerchief  trimmed  with  lace  was  worn  over  the  body. 
The  heiress  had  knotted  a  pink  kerchief  round  her  throat, 
and  wore  a  straw  hat  with  a  moss  rose  in  it.  She  had  fine, 
black  netted  mittens  and  bronze  kid  boots  ;  in  short,  but  for 
a  certain  "Sunday-best  "  effect,  this  turn-out,  as  of  a  figure 
in  a  fashion-plate,  could  not  fail  to  charm  her  father  and 
mother.  And  Cecile  was  a  pretty  girl,  of  medium  height, 
and  well  proportioned.  Her  chestnut  hair  was  dressed  in 
the  fashion  of  the  day,  in  two  thick  plaits,  forming  loops  on 
each  side  of  her  face,  and  fastened  up  at  the  back  of  her  head. 
Her  face,  bright  with  health,  had  the  aristocratic  stamp  which 
she  had  not  inherited  from  her  father  or  her  mother.  Thus 
her  clear  brown  eyes  had  not  a  trace  of  the  soft,  calm,  almost 
melancholy  look  so  common  in  young  girls.  Sprightly,  quick, 
and  healthy,  Cecile  destroyed  the  romantic  cast  of  her  features 
by  a  sort  of  practical  homeliness  and  the  freedom  of  manner 
often  seen  in  spoilt  children.  At  the  same  time,  a  husband 
who  should  be  capable  of  recommencing  her  education  and 
effacing  the  traces  of  a  provincial  life  might  extract  a  charm- 
ing woman  from  this  rough-hewn  marble. 

In  point  of  fact,  S6verine's  pride  of  her  daughter  had  coun- 
teracted the  effects  of  her  love  for  her.  Madame  Beauvisage 
had  had  firmness  enough  to  bring  her  daughter  up  well ;  she 
had  assumed  a  certain  severity  which  exacted  obedience  and 
eradicated  the  little  evil  that  was  indigenous  in  the  child's 
soul.  The  mother  and  daughter  had  never  been  separated  ; 
and  Cecile  was  blessed  with  what  is  rarer  among  girls  than  is 
commonly  supposed — perfect  and  unblemished  purity  of  mind, 
innocence  of  heart,  and  genuine  guilelessness. 

"Your  dress  is  highly  suggestive,"  said  Madame  Beau- 
visage.  "  Did  Simon  Giguet  say  anything  to  you  yesterday 
which  you  did  not  confide  to  me  ?  " 

"Well,  well!"  said  Phil^as,  "a  man  who  is  to  be  the 
representative  of  his  fellow-citizens " 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  55 

"My  dear  mamma,"  said  Cecile  in  her  mother's  ear,  *'  he 
bores  me  to  death — but  there  is  not  another  man  in  Arcis  !  " 

"Your  opinion  of  him  is  quite  correct.  But  wait  till  we 
know  what  your  grandfather  thinks,"  said  Madame  Beau- 
visage,  embracing  her  daughter,  whose  reply  betrayed  great 
good  sense,  though  iu  showed  that  her  innocence  had  been 
tarnished  by  a  thought  of  marriage. 

Monsieur  Grevin's  house,  situated  on  the  opposite  bank  of 
the  river,  at  the  corner  of  the  little  square  beyond  the  bridge, 
was  one  of  the  oldest  in  the  town.  It  was  built  of  wood,  the 
interstices  between  the  timbers  being  filled  up  with  pebbles, 
and  it  was  covered  with  a  smooth  coating  of  cement  painted 
stone-color.  In  spite  of  this  coquettish  artifice,  it  looked,  all 
the  same,  like  a  house  built  of  cards. 

The  garden,  lying  along  the  river  bank,  had  a  terrace  wall 
with  vases  for  flower-pots. 

This  modest  dwelling,  with  its  stout  wooden  shutters  painted 
stone-color  like  the  walls,  was  furnished  with  a  simplicity  to 
correspond  with  the  exterior.  On  entering  you  found  your- 
self in  a  small  pebbled  courtyard,  divided  from  the  garden  by  a 
green  trellis.  On  the  first  floor  the  old  notary's  ofiice  had 
been  turned  into  a  drawing-room,  with  windows  looking  out 
on  the  river  and  the  square,  furnished  with  very  old  and  very 
faded  green  Utrecht  velvet.  The  lawyer's  study  was  now  his 
dining-room.  Everything  bore  the  stamp  of  the  owner,  the 
philosophical  old  man  who  led  one  of  those  lives  that  flow 
like  the  waters  of  a  country  stream,  the  envy  of  political 
harlequins  when  at  last  their  eyes  are  opened  to  the  vanity  of 
social  distinctions,  and  when  they  are  tired  of  a  mad  struggle 
with  the  tide  of  human  affairs. 

Wliile  Severine  is  making  her  way  across  the  bridge  to  see 
if  her  father  has  finished  his  dinner,  it  may  be  well  to  give  a 
few  minutes'  study  to  the  person,  the  life,  and  the  opinions  of 
the  old  man  whose  friendship  with  the  Comte  Malin  de 
Gondreville  secured  him  the  respect  of  the  whole  neighbor- 


56  THE   DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

hood.  This  is  a  plain  unvarnished  tale  of  the  notary  who  for 
a  long  time  had  been,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  the  only 
notary  in  Arcis. 

In  1787  two  youths  set  out  from  Arcis  with  letters  of  recom- 
mendation to  a  member  of  the  Council  named  Danton.  This 
famous  revolutionary  was  a  native  of  Arcis.  His  house  is  still 
shown,  and  his  family  still  lives  there.  This  may  perhaps 
account  for  the  influence  of  the  Revolution  being  so  strongly 
felt  in  that  part  of  the  province. 

Danton  articled  his  young  fellow-countrymen  to  a  lawyer  of 
the  Chatelet,  who  became  famous  for  an  action  against  the 
Comte  Morton  de  Chabrillant  concerning  his  box  at  the 
theatre  on  the  occasion  of  the  first  performance  of  the 
"  Mariage  de  Figaro,"  when  the  "  Parlement "  took  the 
lawyer's  side  as  considering  itself  insulted  in  the  person  of 
its  legal  representative. 

One  of  the  young  men  was  named  Malin,  and  the  other 
Grevin ;  each  was  an  only  son.  Malin's  father  was  at  time 
the  owner  of  the  house  in  which  Grevin  was  now  living. 
They  were  mutually  and  faithfully  attached.  Malin,  a  shrewd 
fellow,  with  good  brains  and  high  ambitions,  had  the  gift  of 
eloquence.  Grevin,  honest  and  hard-working,  made  it  his 
business  to  admire  Malin. 

They  returned  to  the  country  when  the  Revolution  began  ; 
Malin  as  a  pleader  at  Troyes,  Grevin  to  be  a  notary  at  Arcis. 
Grevin,  always  Malin's  humble  servant,  got  him  returned  as 
deputy  to  the  Convention ;  Malin  had  Grevin  appointed 
prosecuting  magistrate  at  Arcis.  Until  the  9th  Thermidor, 
Malin  remained  unknown ;  he  always  voted  with  the  strong 
to  crush  the  weak;  but  Tallien  showed  him  the  necessity  for 
crushing  Robespierre.  Then  in  that  terrific  parliamentary 
battle,  Malin  distinguished  himself;  he  showed  courage  at  the 
right  moment. 

From  that  day  he  began  to  play  a  part  as  a  politician  ;  he 
was  one  of  the  heroes  of  the  rank  and  file ;  he  deserted  from 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  57 

the  party  of  the  "  Thermidoriens "  to  join  that  of  the 
"Clichiens,"  and  was  one  of  the  Council  of  Elders.  After 
allying  himself  with  Talleyrand  and  Fouche  to  conspire 
against  Bonaparte,  he — with  them — became  one  of  Bona- 
parte's most  ardent  partisans  after  the  victory  of  Marengo. 
Appointed  tribune,  tie  was  one  of  the  first  to  be  elected  to 
the  Council  of  State,  worked  at  the  revision  of  the  Code, 
and  was  soon  promoted  to  senatorial  dignity  with  the  title 
of  Comte  de  Gondreville. 

This  was  the  political  side  of  their  career.  Now  for  the 
financial  side. 

Grevin  was  the  most  active  and  most  crafty  instrument  of 
the  Comte  de  Gondreville's  fortune  in  the  district  of  Arcis. 
The  estate  of  Gondreville  had  belonged  to  the  Simeuse 
family,  a  good  old  house  of  provincial  nobility,  decimated  by 
the  guillotine,  of  which  the  two  surviving  heirs,  both  young 
soldiers,  were  serving  in  Conde's  army.  The  estate,  sold  as 
nationalized  land,  was  purchased  by  Grevin  for  Malin,  under 
Marion's  name.  Grevin,  in  fact,  acquired  for  his  friend  the 
larger  part  of  the  church  lands  sold  by  the  Republic  in  the 
department  of  the  Aube.  Malin  sent  the  sums  necessary  for 
these  purchases,  not  forgetting  a  bonus  to  the  agent.  When, 
presently,  the  Directory  was  supreme — by  which  time  Malin 
was  a  power  in  the  Republic — the  sales  were  taken  up  in  his 
name. 

Then  Grevin  was  a  notary,  and  Malin  in  the  Council  of 
State  ;  Grevin  became  mayor  of  Arcis,  Malin  was  senator  and 
Comte  de  Gondreville.  Malin  married  the  daughter  of  a 
millionaire  army-contractor  ;  Grevin  married  the  only  daugh- 
ter of  Monsieur  Varlet,  the  leading  doctor  in  Arcis.  The 
Comte  de  Gondreville  had  three  hundred  thousand  francs  a 
year,  a  fine  house  in  Paris,  and  the  splendid  castle  of  Gondre- 
ville. One  of  his  daughters  married  a  Paris  banker,  one  of 
the  Kellers ;  the  other  became  the  wife  of  Marshal  the  Due 
de  Carigliano. 


68  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

Grevin,  a  rich  man  too,  with  fifteen  thousand  francs  a  year, 
owned  the  house  where  he  was  now  peacefully  ending  his 
days  in  strict  economy,  having  managed  his  friend's  business 
for  him,  and  bought  this  house  from  him  for  six  thousand 
francs.  The  Comte  de  Gondreville  was  eighty  years  of  age, 
and  Grevin  seventy-six.  The  peer,  taking  his  walk  in  his 
park,  the  old  notary  in  wliat  had  been  that  peer's  father's 
garden,  each  in  his  warm  morning  wrapper,  hoarded  crown 
upon  crown.  Not  a  cloud  had  chequered  this  friendship  of 
sixty  years.  The  notary  had  always  been  subservient  to  the 
member  of  the  convention,  the  councilor  of  State,  the  sen- 
ator, the  peer  of  France. 

After  the  Revolution  of  July,  Malin,  being  in  Arcis,  had 
said  to  Gr6vin — 

"Would  you  care  to  have  the  cross?"  (of  the  Legion  of 
Honor). 

"  And  what  would  I  do  with  it  ?  "  replied  Grevin. 

Neither  had  ever  failed  the  other.  They  had  always  ad- 
vised and  inform'ed  each  other  without  envy  on  one  side  or 
arrogance  or  offensive  airs  on  the  other.  Malin  had  always 
been  obliged  to  do  his  best  for  Grevin,  for  all  Grevin's  pride 
was  in  the  Comte  de  Gondreville.  Grevin  was  as  much  the 
Comte  de  Gondreville  as  Malin  himself.  At  the  same  time, 
since  the  Revolution  of  July,  when  Grevin,  already  an  old 
man,  had  given  up  the  management  of  the  comte's  affairs, 
and  when  the  count,  failing  from  age  and  from  the  part  he 
had  played  in  so  many  political  storms,  was  settling  down  to 
a  quiet  life,  the  old  men — sure  of  each  other's  regard,  but  no 
longer  needing  each  other's  help — had  met  but  rarely.  On 
his  way  to  his  country  place  or  on  his  return  journey  to  Paris, 
the  count  would  call  on  Grevin,  who  paid  the  count  a  visit  or 
two  while  he  was  at  Gondreville. 

Their  children  were  scarcely  acquainted.  Neither  Madame 
Keller  nor  the  Duchesse  de  Carigliano  had  ever  formed  any 
intimacy  with  Mademoiselle  Grevin  either  before  or  since  her 


THE   DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  59 

marriage  to  Beauvisage  the  hosier.  This  scorn,  whether 
apparent  or  real,  greatly  puzzled  Severine.  Grevin,  as  mayor 
of  Arcis  under  the  Empire,  a  man  kind  and  helpful  to  all, 
had,  in  the  exercise  of  his  power,  conciliated  and  overcome 
many  difficulties.  His  good  humor,  bluntness,  and  honesty 
had  won  the  regard  ««d  affection  of  his  district ;  and  beside, 
everybody  respected  him  as  a  man  who  could  command  the 
favor,  the  power,  and  the  influence  of  the  Comte  de  Gondre- 
ville. 

By  this  time,  however,  when  the  notary's  active  participa- 
tion in  public  business  was  a  thing  of  the  past,  when  for  eight 
years  he  had  been  almost  forgotten  in  the  town  of  Arcis,  and 
his  death  might  be  expected  any  day,  Grevin,  like  his  old  friend 
Malin,  vegetated  rather  than  lived.  He  never  went  beyond 
his  garden  ;  he  grew  his  flowers,  pruned  his  trees,  inspected 
his  vegetables  and  his  grafts — like  all  old  men,  he  seemed  to 
practice  being  a  corpse.     His  life  was  as  regular  as  clockwork. 

In  all  weathers  he  wore  the  same  clothes :  heavy  shoes, 
oiled  to  keep  out  the  wet,  loose  worsted  stockings,  thick  gray 
flannel  trousers  strapped  round  the  waist,  without  braces ;  a 
wide  vest  of  thin  sky-blue  cloth  with  horn  buttons,  and  a 
coat  of  gray  flannel  to  match  the  trousers.  On  his  head  he 
wore  a  little  round  beaver-skin  cap,  which  he  never  took  ofl" 
in  the  house.  In  the  summer  a  black  velvet  cap  took  the 
place  of  the  fur  cap,  and  he  wore  an  iron-gray  cloth  coat 
instead  of  the  thick  flannel  one. 

He  was  of  medium  height,  and  stout,  as  a  healthy  old  man 
should  be,  which  made  him  move  a  little  heavily ;  his  pace 
was  slow,  as  is  natural  to  men  of  sedentary  habits.  Up  by 
daybreak,  he  made  the  most  careful  and  elaborate  toilet ;  he 
shaved  himself,  he  walked  round  his  garden,  he  looked  at  the 
weather  and  consulted  the  barometer,  opening  the  drawing- 
room  shutters  himself.  He  hoed,  he  raked,  he  hunted  out 
the  caterpillars — he  would  always  find  occupation  till  breakfast- 
time.     After  breakfast  he  devoted  two  hours  to   digestion, 


60  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

thinking — of  heaven  knows  what.  Almost  every  day,  between 
two  and  five,  his  grand-daughter  came  to  see  him,  sometimes 
brought  by  the  maid,  and  sometimes,  more  often,  in  fact,  by 
her  mother. 

There  were  days  when  this  mechanical  routine  was  upset. 
He  had  to  receive  the  farmers'  rents,  and  payments  in  kind, 
to  be  at  once  resold  ;  but  this  little  business  was  but  once  a 
month  on  a  market-day.  What  became  of  the  money?  No 
one  knew,  not  even  Severine  or  Cecile ;  on  that  point  Grevin 
was  as  mute  as  the  confessional.  Still,  all  the  old  man's 
feelings  had  in  the  end  centred  in  his  daughter  and  his  grand- 
child ;  he  really  loved  them  more  than  his  money. 

This  septuagenarian,  so  neat  in  his  person,  with  his  round 
face,  his  bald  forehead,  his  blue  eyes  and  thin  white  hair,  had 
a  tinge  of  despotism  in  his  temper,  as  men  have  when  they 
have  met  with  no  resistance  from  men  and  things.  His  only 
great  fault,  and  that  deeply  hidden,  for  nothing  had  ever 
called  it  into  play,  was  a  persistent  and  terrible  vindictiveness, 
a  rancor  which  Malin  had  never  roused.  Grevin  had  always 
been  at  Malin's  service,  but  he  had  always  found  him  grateful ; 
the  count  had  never  humiliated  or  offended  his  friend,  whose 
nature  he  knew  thoroughly. 

Severine  was  affectionately  attached  to  her  father ;  she  and 
her  daughter  never  left  the  making  of  his  linen  to  any  one 
else.  They  knitted  his  winter  stockings,  and  watched  his 
health  with  minute  care.  Before  leaving  the  goodman's 
house  every  day  Severine  or  Cecile  inquired  as  to  what  his 
dinner  was  to  be  next  day,  and  sent  him  early  vegetables  from 
market. 

Madame  Beauvisage  had  always  wished  that  her  father 
should  introduce  her  at  the  Chateau  de  Gondreville  to  make 
acquaintance  with  the  count's  daughters ;  but  the  prudent  old 
man  had  frequently  explained  to  her  how  difficult  it  would  be 
to  keep  up  any  connection  with  the  Duchesse  de  Carigliano, 
who  lived  in  Paris,  and  seldom  came  to  Gondreville,  or  with 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  61 

a  woman  of  fashion,  like  Madame  Keller,  when  she  herself 
had  a  hosier's  store  at  Arcis. 

**  Your  life  is  settled,"  said  Grevin  to  his  daughter.  "  Place 
all  your  hopes  of  enjoyment  in  Cecile,  who,  when  you  give 
up  business,  will  certainly  be  rich  enough  to  give  you  the  free 
and  handsome  style -bf  living  that  you  deserve.  Choose  a 
son-in-law  who  has  ambitions  and  brains,  and  then  you  can 
some  day  go  to  Paris  and  leave  that  simpleton  Beauvisage 
here.  If  I  should  live  long  enough  to  have  a  grandson-in- 
law,  I  will  steer  you  over  the  sea  of  politics  as  I  steered  Malin, 
and  you  shall  rise  as  high  as  the  Kellers." 

These  words,  spoken  before  the  Revolution  of  1830,  and 
one  year  after  the  old  notary  had  established  himself  in  his 
little  house,  account  for  his  calm  existence.  Grevin  wished  to 
live;  he  wished  to  start  his  daughter,  his  grand-daughter,  and 
his  great-grandchildren  on  the  high  road  to  greatness.  Grevin 
was  ambitious  for  the  third  generation. 

When  he  made  that  speech  the  old  man  was  thinking  of 
seeing  Cecile  married  to  Charles  Keller,  and  at  this  moment 
he  was  mourning  over  his  disappointed  hopes ;  he  did  not 
know  what  determination  to  come  to. 

Severine  found  her  father  sitting  on  a  wooden  bench  at  the 
end  of  his  terrace,  under  the  blossoming  lilacs,  and  taking  his 
coffee,  for  it  was  half-past  five.  She  saw  at  once  by  the  sor- 
rowful gravity  of  her  father's  expression  that  he  had  heard  the 
news.  In  fact,  the  old  count  had  sent  a  manservant  to  beg 
his  friend  to  go  to  him.  Hitherto,  Grevin  had  been  unwilling 
to  encourage  his  daughter's  hopes  j  but  now,  in  the  conflict  of 
mingled  considerations  that  struggled  in  his  sorrowful  mind, 
his  secret  slipped  out. 

"  My  dear  child,"  said  he,  "  I  had  dreamed  of  such  splen- 
did and  noble  prospects  for  your  future  life,  and  death  has 
upset  them  all.  Cecile  might  have  been  the  Vicomtesse 
Keller;  for  Charles,  by  my  management,  would  have  been 
elected  deputy  for  Arcis,  and  he  would  certainly  some  day 


62  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

have  succeeded  his  father  as  peer.  Neither  Gondreville  nor- 
Madame  Keller,  his  daughter,  would  have  sneezed  at  Cecile's 
sixty  thousand  francs  a  year,  especially  with  the  added  pros- 
pect of  a  hundred  thousand  more  which  will  come  to  you 
some  day.  You  could  have  lived  in  Paris  with  your  daughter, 
and  have  played  your  part  as  mother-in-law  in  the  higher 
spheres  of  power." 

Madame  Beauvisage  nodded  approval. 

"  But  we  are  struck  down  by  the  blow  that  has  killed  this 
charming  young  man,  who  had  already  made  a  friend  of  the 
prince.  And  this  Simon  Giguet,  who  is  pushing  forward  on 
the  political  stage,  is  a  fool,  a  fool  of  the  \''orst  kind,  for  he 
believes  himself  an  eagle.  You  are  too  intimate  with  the 
Giguets  and  the  Marion  family  to  refuse  the  alliance  without 
a  great  show  of  reason,  but  you  must  refuse — " 
"  We  are,  as  usual,  quite  agreed,  my  dear  father." 
"  All  this  necessitates  my  going  to  see  my  old  friend  Malin  ; 
in  the  first  place,  to  comfort  him ;  and  in  the  second  place, 
to  consult  him.  You  and  Cecile  would  be  miserable  with  an 
old  family  of  the  Faubourg  Saint-Germain  j  they  would  make 
you  feel  your  humble  birth  in  a  thousand  little  ways.  What 
we  must  look  out  for  is  one  of  Napoleon's  dukes  who  is  in 
want  of  money ;  then  we  can  get  a  fine  title  for  Cecile,  and 
we  will  tie  up  her  fortune. 

"You  can  say  that  I  have  arranged  for  the  disposal  of 
Cecile's  hand,  and  that  will  put  an  end  to  all  such  impertinent 
proposals  as  Antonin  Goulard's.  Little  Vinet  is  sure  to  come 
forward ;  and  of  all  the  suitors  who  will  nibble  at  her  fortune, 
he  is  the  more  preferable.  He  is  clever,  pushing,  and  connected 
through  his  mother  with  the  Chargeboeufs.  But  he  is  too 
determined  not  to  be  master,  and  he  is  young  enough  to  make 
her  love  him;  between  the  two  you  would  be  done  for.  I 
know  what  you  are,  my  child  !  " 

"I  shall  feel  very  much  embarrassed  this  evening  at  the 
Marions,"  said  Severine. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  63 

**  Well,  my  dear,  send  Madame  Marion  to  me.  I  will  talk 
to  her!" 

"I  knew  that  you  were  planning  for  our  future,  dear 
father,  but  I  had  no  idea  that  it  would  be  anything  so  bril- 
liant," said  Madame  Beauvisage,  taking  her  father's  hands 
and  kissing  them.        *' 

"I  have  planned  so  deeply,"   replied  Grevin,   "that  in 

1 83 1  I  bought  a  house  you  know  very  well — the  Hotel  Beau- 
seant " 

Madame  Beauvisage  started  with  surprise  at  hearing  this 
well-kept  secret,  but  she  did  not  interrupt  her  father. 

"It  will  be  my  wedding-gift,"   he  added.     "I  let    it  in 

1832  to  some  English,  for  seven  years,  at  twenty-four  thou- 
sand francs  a  year — a  good  stroke  of  business,  for  it  only  cost 
me  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand,  and  I  have  got 
back  nearly  two  hundred  thousand.  The  lease  is  out  on  the 
15th  of  July  next." 

Severine  kissed  her  father  on  the  forehead  and  on  both 
cheeks.  This  last  discovery  promised  such  splendor  in  the 
future  that  she  was  dazzled. 

"  If  my  father  takes  my  advice,"  said  she  to  herself,  as  she 
recrossed  the  bridge,  "  he  will  leave  the  property  only  in 
reversion  to  his  grandchildren,  and  I  shall  have  the  life- 
interest  ;  I  do  not  wish  that  my  daughter  and  her  husband 
should  turn  me  out  of  their  house  ;  they  shall  live  in  mine." 

At  dessert,  when  the  two  maids  were  dining  in  the  kitchen, 
and  Madame  Beauvisage  was  sure  of  not  being  overheard,  she 
thought  it  well  to  give  Cecile  a  little  lecture. 

"  My  dear  child,"  said  she,  "  behave  this  evening  as  a  well- 
brought-up  girl  should  :  and  henceforth  try  to  have  a  quiet, 
reserved  manner ;  do  not  chatter  too  freely,  nor  walk  about 
alone  with  Monsieur  Giguet,  or  Monsieur  Olivier  Vinet,  or 
the  sub-prefect,  or  Monsieur  Martener — or  anybody,  in  short, 
not  even  Achille  Pigoult.  You  will  never  marry  any  young 
man  of  Arcis  or  of  the  department.     Your  fate  will  be  to  shine 


64  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

in  Paris.  You  shall  have  some  pretty  dresses  for  every-day 
wear,  to  accustom  you  to  being  elegant ;  and  I  will  try  to 
bribe  some  waiting-woman  of  the  Duchesse  de  Maufrigneuse's 
to  find  out  where  the  Princesse  de  Cadignan  and  the  Marquise 
de  Cinq-Cygne  buy  their  things.  Oh,  we  will  not  look  in  the 
least  provincial !  You  must  practice  the  piano  three  hours  a 
day,  and  I  will  have  Moise  over  from  Troyes  daily  until  I 
can  find  out  about  a  master  who  will  come  from  Paris.  You 
must  cultivate  all  your  talents,  for  you  have  not  more  than  a 
year  before  you  at  most  before  getting  married.  So,  now,  I 
have  warned  you,  and  I  shall  see  how  you  conduct  yourself 
this  evening.  You  must  keep  Simon  at  arm's  length  without 
making  him  ridiculous." 

"  Be  quite  easy,  ma'am,  I  will  begin  at  once  to  adore  the 
Unknown." 

This  speech,  which  made  Madame  Beauvisage  smile,  needs 
a  word  of  explanation. 

"Ah,  I  have  not  seen  him  yet,"  said  Phil6as,  "but  every- 
body is  talking  of  him.  When  I  want  to  know  whom  he  is, 
I  will  send  the  sergeant  or  Monsieur  Groslier  to  inspect  his 
passport." 

There  is  not  a  country  town  in  France  where  sooner  or  later 
the  Comedy  of  the  Stranger  is  not  played.  The  Stranger  is 
not  infrequently  an  adventurer  who  takes  the  natives  in,  and 
goes  off,  carrying  with  him  a  woman's  reputation  or  a  family 
cash-box. 

Now,  the  possible  accession  of  Simon  Giguet  to  representative 
power  was  not  the  only  great  event  of  the  day.  The  attention 
of  the  citizens  of  Arcis  had  been  much  engaged  by  the  pro- 
ceedings of  an  individual  who  had  arrived  three  days  pre- 
viously, and  who  was,  as  it  happened,  the  first  Stranger  to  the 
rising  generation.  Hence,  the  "Unknown"  was  the  chief 
subject  of  conversation  in  every  family  circle.  He  was  the 
log  that  had  dropped  from  the  clouds  into  a  community  of 
frogs. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  65 

All  the  residents  of  Arcis-sur-Aube  know  each  other,  and 
they  know  every  drummer  who  comes  on  business  from  the 
Paris  houses ;  thus,  as  in  every  small  town  in  a  similar  posi- 
tion, the  arrival  of  a  stranger  in  Arcis  sets  all  tongues  wag- 
ging, and  excites  every  imagination,  if  he  should  stay  more 
than  two  days  withoufannouncing  his  name  and  bysiness. 

Now,  while  Arcis  was  still  stagnantly  peaceful,  three  days 
before  that  on  which — by  the  fiat  of  the  creator  of  so  many 
fictions — this  story  begins,  everybody  had  witnessed  the  ar- 
rival, by  the  road  from  La  Belle-Etoile,  of  a  Stranger,  in  a  neat 
tilbury,  driving  a  well-bred  horse,  and  followed  by  a  tiger  no 
bigger  than  your  thumb,  mounted  on  a  saddle-horse.  The 
coach  in  connection  with  the  mails  for  Troyes  had  brought  from 
La  Belle-Etoile  three  trunks  from  Paris,  with  no  name  on  them, 
but  belonging  to  the  new-comer,  who  took  rooms  at  the  Mulct. 
Everybody  in  Arcis  that  evening  supposed  that  this  individual 
wanted  to  purchase  land  at  Arcis,  and  he  was  spoken  of  in 
many  family  councils  as  the  future  owner  of  the  castle. 

The  tilbury,  the  traveler,  the  tiger,  and  the  steeds  all 
seemed  to  have  dropped  from  some  very  superior  social 
sphere.  The  stranger,  who  was  tired  no  doubt,  remained  in- 
visible ;  perhaps  he  spent  part  of  his  time  in  settling  in  the 
rooms  he  selected,  announcing  his  intention  of  remaining 
some  little  time.  He  insisted  on  seeing  where  his  horses  were 
housed  in  the  stable,  and  was  exceedingly  particular;  they 
were  to  be  kept  apart  from  those  belonging  to  the  inn,  and 
from  any  that  might  arrive.  So  much  eccentric  care  led  the 
host  of  the  Mulct  to  the  conclusion  that  the  visitor  must  be  an 
Englishman. 

On  the  very  first  evening  some  attempts  were  made  on  the 
Mulct  by  curious  inquirers ;  but  no  information  was  to  be  got- 
ten out  of  the  little  groom,  who  refused  to  give  any  account  of 
his  master,  not  by  misleading  answers  or  silence,  but  by  such 
banter  as  seemed  to  indicate  deep  depravity  far  beyond  his 
years. 
5 


66  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

After  a  careful  toilet,  the  visitor  ate  his  dinner  at  about  six 
o'clock,  and  then  rode  out,  his  groom  in  attendance,  on  the 
Brienne  road,  and  returned  very  late.  The  innkeeper,  his 
wife,  and  the  chambermaids  vainly  examined  the  stranger's 
luggage  and  possessions ;  they  discovered  nothing  that  could 
throw  any  light  on  the  mysterious  visitor's  rank,  name,  pro- 
fession, or  purpose. 

The  effect  was  incalculable ;  endless  surmises  were  put  for- 
ward, such  as  might  have  justified  the  intervention  of  the 
public  prosecutor. 

When  he  returned,  the  stranger  admitted  the  mistress  of 
the  house,  who  laid  before  him  the  volume  in  which,  by  the 
regulations  of  the  police,  he  was  required  to  write  his  name 
and  dignity,  the  object  of  his  visit,  and  the  place  whence  he 
came. 

"I  shall  write  nothing  whatever,  madame,"  said  he  to  the 
innkeeper's  wife.  **  If  anybody  troubles  you  on  the  subject, 
you  can  say  that  I  refused,  and  send  the  sub-prefect  to  me  if 
you  like,  for  I  have  no  passport.  People  will  ask  you  a  great 
many  questions  about  me,  madame,"  he  added.  "And  you 
can  answer  what  you  please ;  I  do  not  intend  that  you  should 
know  anything  about  me,  even  if  you  should  obtain  informa- 
tion in  spite  of  me.  If  you  annoy  me,  I  shall  go  to  the  Hotel 
de  la  Poste,  on  the  square  by  the  bridge ;  and,  observe,  that  I 
propose  to  remain  a  fortnight  at  least.  I  should  be  very  sorry 
to  go,  for  I  know  you  to  be  a  sister  of  Gothard,  one  of  the 
heroes  of  the  Simeuse  case." 

"  Certainly  sir !  "  replied  the  sister  of  Gothard — the  Cinq- 
Cygnes'  steward. 

After  this,  the  stranger  had  no  difficulty  in  detaining  the 
good  woman  for  nearly  two  hours,  and  extracting  from  her  all 
she  could  tell  him  concerning  Arcis — everybody's  fortune, 
everybody's  business,  and  who  all  the  officials  were. 

Next  morning  he  again  rode  out  attended  by  the  tiger,  and 
4id  not  come  in  till  midnight. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  67 

The  reader  can  now  understand  Cecile's  little  jest,  which 
Madame  Beauvisage  thought  had  nothing  in  it. 

Beauvisage  and  Cecile,  equally  surprised  by  the  order  of 
the  day  set  forth  by  Severine,  were  no  less  delighted.  While 
his  wife  was  changing  her  dress  to  go  to  Madame  Marion's, 
the  father  listened  tff^the  girl's  hypotheses — guesses  such  as  a 
young  lady  naturally  indulges  in  under  such  circumstances. 
Then,  tired  by  the  day's  work,  as  soon  as  his  wife  and  daugh- 
ter were  gone,  he  went  to  bed. 

As  all  may  suppose  who  know  France,  or  the  province  of 
Champagne — which  is  not  quite  the  same  thing — or  yet  more, 
the  ways  of  country  towns,  there  was  a  perfect  mob  in  Madame 
Marion's  room  that  evening.  Simon  Giguet's  success  was  re- 
garded as  a  victory  over  the  Comte  de  Gondreville,  and  the 
independence  of  Arcis  in  electioneering  matters  as  established 
for  ever.  The  news  of  poor  Charles  Keller's  death  was 
felt  to  be  a  special  dispensation  from  heaven,  and  silenced 
rivalry. 

Antonin  Goulard,  Frederic  Marest,  Olivier  Vinet,  Monsieur 
Martener,  in  short,  all  the  authorities  who  had  ever  fre- 
quented the  house,  whose  opinions  could  hardly  be  adverse  to 
the  Government  as  established  by  popular  suffrage  in  July, 
1830,  were  there  as  usual,  but  all  brought  thither  by  curiosity 
as  to  the  attitude  assumed  by  the  Beauvisages,  mother  and 
daughter. 

The  drawing-room,  restored  to  order,  bore  no  traces  of 
the  meeting  which  had  presumably  decided  Maitre  Simon's 
fate. 

By  eight  o'clock,  four  card-players,  at  each  of  the  four 
tables,  were  busily  occupied.  The  small  drawing-room  and 
the  dining-room  were  full  of  company. 

"It  is  the  dawn  of  advancement,"  said  Olivier,  remarking 
to  her  on  a  sight  so  delightful  to  a  woman  who  is  fond  of  en- 
tertaining. 

**It  is  impossible  to  foresee  what  Simon  may  rise  to,"  re- 


68  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS, 

plied  Madame  Marion.     "  We  live  in  an  age  when  a  man 
who  has  perseverance  and  the  art  of  getting  on  may  aspire  to ' 
the  best." 

This  speech  was  made  less  to  Vinet  than  for  the  benefit  of 
Madame  Beauvisage,  who  had  just  come  in  with  her  daughter 
and  congratulated  her  friend. 

C6cile  went  to  gossip  with  Mademoiselle  MoUot,  one  of  her 
bosom  friends,  and  seemed  more  affectionate  to  her  than  ever. 
Mademoiselle  MoUot  was  the  beauty  of  Arcis,  as  Cecile  was 
the  heiress.  M.  Mollot,  clerk  of  assize  at  Arcis,  lived  in  the 
Grande  Place,  in  a  house  situated  very  much  as  that  ot  the 
Beauvisages  was  at  the  bridge  end.  Madame  Mollot,  who 
never  sat  anywhere  but  at  the  drawing-room  window  on  the 
first  floor,  suffered  in  consequence  from  acute  and  chronic 
curiosity,  a  permanent  and  inveterate  malady.  Madame 
Mollot  devoted  herself  to  watching  her  neighbors,  as  a  ner- 
vous woman  talks  of  her  ailments,  with  airs,  and  graces,  and 
thorough  enjoyment.  If  a  countryman  came  on  the  square 
from  the  road  to  Brienne,  she  watched  and  wondered  what 
his  business  could  be  at  Arcis,  and  her  mind  knew  no  rest  till 
she  could  account  for  that  peasant's  proceedings.  She  spent 
her  whole  life  in  criticising  events,  men  and  things,  and  the 
household  affairs  of  Arcis. 

She  was  a  tall,  meagre  woman,  the  daughter  of  a  judge  at 
Troyes,  and  she  had  brought  Monsieur  Mollot,  formerly  Gre- 
vin's  managing  clerk,  fortune  enough  to  enable  him  to  pay  for 
his  place  as  clerk  of  assize.  The  clerk  of  assize  ranks  with  a 
judge,  just  as  in  the  Supreme  Court  the  chief  clerk  ranks  with  a 
councilor.  Monsieur  Mollot  owed  his  nomination  to  the 
Comte  de  Gondreville,  who  had  settled  the  matter  by  a  word 
in  season  at  the  chancellor's  office  in  favor  of  Grevin's  clerk. 
The  whole  ambition  of  these  three  persons — Mollot,  his  wife, 
and  his  daughter — was  to  see  Ernestine  Mollot,  who  was  an 
only  child,  married  to  Antonin  Goulard.  Thus  the  rejection 
by  the  Beauvisages  of  every  advance  on  the  part  of  the  sub- 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  69 

prefect  had  tightened  the  bonds  of  friendship  between  the  two 
families. 

"There  is  a  much-provoked  man!"  said  Ernestine  to 
Cecilc,  pointing  to  Simon  Giguet.  "  He  is  pining  to  come 
and  talk  to  us ;  but  everybody  who  comes  in  feels  bound  to 
congratulate  and  detain  him.  Fifty  times  at  least  I  have 
heard  him  say  :  '  The  good-will  of  my  fellow-citizens  is  toward 
my  father,  I  believe,  rather  than  myself;  be  that  as  it  may, 
rely  upon  it,  I  shall  devote  myself  not  merely  to  our  common 
interests,  but  more  especially  to  yours.'  I  can  hear  the 
wordo  from  the  movement  of  his  lips,  and  every  time  he 
looks  round  at  you  with  the  eyes  of  a  martyr." 

"Ernestine,"  said  Cecile,  "stay  by  rpe  all  the  evening, 
for  I  do  not  want  to  hear  his  hints  hidden  under  speeches 
full  of  Alas  !  and  punctuated  with  sighs." 

"  Then  you  do  not  want  to  be  the  wife  of  a  keeper  of  the 
seals!" 

"Have  they  got  no  higher  than  that?"  said  Cecile, 
laughing. 

"I  assure  you,"  said  Ernestine,  "that  just  now,  before 
you  came  in.  Monsieur  Godivet  the  registrar  declared  in  his 
enthusiasm  that  Simon  would  be  keeper  of  the  seals  before 
three  years  were  out." 

"  And  do  they  rely  on  the  patronage  of  the  Comte  de  Oon- 
dreville?"  asked  Goulard,  seating  himself  by  the  two  girls, 
with  a  shrewd  suspicion  that  they  were  laughing  at  his  friend 
Giguet. 

"Ah,  Monsieur  Antonin,"  said  pretty  Ernestine,  **you 
promised  my  mother  to  find  out  who  the  handsome  stranger 
is  !     What  is  your  latest  information  ?  " 

"The  events  of  to-day,  mademoiselle,  have  been  of  far 
greater  importance,"  said  Antonin,  seating  himself  by  Cecile 
like  a  diplomatist  enchanted  to  escape  from  general  observa- 
tion by  taking  refuge  with  a  party  of  girls.  "  My  whole 
career  as  sub-prefect  or  full  prefect  hangs  in  the  balance." 


70 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 


"  Why  !  Will  you  not  allow  your  friend  Siraon  to  be  re- 
turned as  unanimously  elected?  " 

*'  Simon  is  my  friend,  but  the  Government  is  my  master, 
and  I  mean  to  do  all  I  can  to  hinder  Simon's  return.  And 
Madame  Mollot  ought  to  lend  me  her  assistance  as  the  wife 
of  a  man  whose  duties  attach  him  to  the  Government." 

"We  are  quite  prepared  to  side  with  you,"  said  Madame 
Mollot.  "  My  husband  told  me,"  she  went  on  in  an  under- 
tone, "of  all  the  proceedings  here  this  morning.  It  was 
lamentable!  Only  one  man  showed  any  talent— Achille 
Pigoult.  Every  one  agrees  in  saying  that  he  is  an  orator,  and 
would  shine  in  Parliament.  And  though  he  has  nothing,  and 
my  daughter  is  aa  only  child  with  a  marriage-portion  of  sixty 
thousand  francs— to  say  nothing  of  what  we  may  leave  her— 
and  money  from  her  father's  uncle  the  miller,  and  from  ray 
Aunt  Lambert  at  Troyes — well,  I  declare  to  you  that  if  Mon- 
sieur Achille  Pigoult  should  do  us  the  honor  of  proposing  for 
her,  for  my  part,  I  would  say  yes— that  is,  if  my  daughter 
liked  him  well  enough.  But  the  little  simpleton  will  not 
marry  any  one  she  does  not  fancy.  It  is  Mademoiselle  Beau- 
visage  who  has  put  that  into  her  head." 

The  sub-prefect  took  this  broadside  as  a  man  who  knows 
that  he  has  thirty  thousand  francs  a  year  of  his  own,  and 
expects  to  be  made  prefect. 

"  Mademoiselle  Beauvisage  is  in  the  right,"  said  he,  look- 
ing at  Cecile  ;  "  she  is  rich  enough  to  marry  for  love." 

"  We  will  not  discuss  marriage,"  said  Ernestine.  "  It  only 
distresses  my  poor  little  Cecile,  who  was  confessing  to  me  just 
now  that  if  she  could  only  be  married  for  love,  and  not  for  her 
money,  she  would  like  to  be  courted  by  some  stranger  who 
knew  nothing  of  Arcis  or  the  fortunes  which  are  to  make  her 
a  female  Croesus  ;  and  she  only  wishes  she  could  go  through 
some  romantic  adventure  that  would  end  in  her  being  loved 
and  married  for  her  own  sake " 

"That  is  a  very,  pretty  idea.     I  always  knew  that  Made- 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  71 

moiselle  had  as  much  wit  as  money!"  exclaimed  Olivier 
Vinet,  joining  the  group,  in  detestation  of  the  flatterers  sur- 
rounding Simon  Giguet,  the  idol  of  the  day. 

"And  that  was  how,  from  one  thing  to  another,  we  were 
led  to  talk  of  the  Unknown " 

"And  then,"  added  Ernestine,  "she  thought  of  him  as 
the  possible  hero  of  the  romance  I  have  sketched " 

"  OhJ  "  cried  Madame  MoUot,  "  a  man  of  fifty  !    Never !  " 

"How  do  you  know  that  he  is  a  man  of  fifty?"  asked 
Vinet,  with  a  smile. 

"To  tell  the  truth,"  said  Madame  Mollot,  "I  was  so 
mystified,  that  this  morning  I  took  my  opera-glasses " 

"  Well  done  !  "  exclaimed  the  inspector  of  works,  who  was 
courting  the  mother  to  win  the  daughter. 

"And  so,"  Madame  Mollot  went  on,  "I  could  see  the 
stranger  shaving  himself — with  such  elegant  razors !  Gold 
handles — or  silver-gilt." 

"  Gold  !  gold  !  "  cried  Vinet.  "  When  there  is  any  doubt, 
let  everything  be  of  the  best !  And  I,  who  have  never  even 
seen  the  gentleman,  feel  quite  sure  that  he  is  at  least  a  count." 
This,  which  was  thought  very  funny,  made  everybody  laugh.* 

The  little  group  who  could  be  so  merry  excited  the  envy  of 
the  dowagers  and  attracted  the  attention  of  the  black-coated 
men  who  stood  round  Simon  Giguet.  As  to  Giguet  himself, 
he  was  in  despair  at  not  being  able  forthwith  to  lay  his  fortune 
and  his  prospects  at  the  heiress'  feet. 

*'0h,  my  dear  father,"  thought  the  deputy  clerk,  finding 
himself  complimented  for  the  involuntary  witticism,  "what 
a  place  you  have  sent  me  to  as  a  beginning  of  my  experience  ! 
A  count — comte  with  an  m,  ladies,"  he  explained.  "A  man 
as  illustrious  by  birth  as  he  is  distinguished  in  manners ;  note- 
worthy for  his  fortune  and  his  carriages — a  dandy,  a  man  of 
fashion — a  lemon-kid-glove  man " 

*  There  is  a  pun  in  the  French  on  the  words  comte,  a.  count,  and  confe, 
a  romance,  a,  6b. 


72  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"  He  has  the  smartest  tilbury  you  ever  saw,  Monsieur 
Olivier,"  said  Ernestine. 

**  And  you  never  told  me  of  his  tilbury,  Antonin,  this 
morning  when  we  were  discussing  this  dark  conspirator ;  the 
tilbury  is  really  an  attenuating  circumstance.  A  man  with  a 
tilbury  cannot  be  a  Republican." 

"Young  ladies,"  said  Antonin  Goulard,  "there  is  nothing 
I  would  not  do  to  promote  your  pleasure.  We  will  know, 
and  that  soon,  if  he  is  a  comte  with  an  m,  so  that  you  may 
be  able  to  construct  your  conU  with  an  «."* 

"And  it  may  then  become  history,"  said  the  engineer. 

"As  written  for  the  edification  of  sub-prefects, "  said  Olivier 
Vinet. 

"And  how  will  you  set  about  it?"  asked  Madame  MoUot. 

"Ah!"  replied  the  sub-prefect.  "If  you  were  to  ask 
Mademoiselle  Beauvisage  whom  she  would  marry,  if  she  were 
condemned  to  choose  from  the  men  who  are  here  now,  she 
would  not  tell  you  !  You  must  grant  some  reticence  to  power. 
Be  quite  easy,  young  ladies,  in  ten  minutes  you  shall  know 
whether  the  stranger  is  a  count  or  a  drummer." 

Antonin  left  the  little  coterie  of  girls — for  there  were  beside 
C^cile  and  Ernestine,  Mademoiselle  Berton,  the  daughter  of 
the  collector  of  revenue,  an  insignificant  damsel  who  was  a 
sort  of  satellite  to  the  heiress  and  the  beauty,  and  Made- 
moiselle Herbelot,  sister  of  the  second  notary  of  Arcis,  an 
old  maid  of  thirty,  sour,  pinched,  and  dressed  after  the  man- 
ner of  old  maids — she  wore  a  green  tabinet  gown,  and  a 
kerchief  with  embroidered  corners,  crossed  and  knotted  in 
front  after  the  manner  in  fashion  during  the  Reign  of  Terror. 

"  Julian,"  said  the  sub-prefect  to  his  servant  in  the  vesti- 
bule, "  you  were  in  service  for  six  months  with  the  Gondre- 
villes  ;  do  you  know  a  count's  coronet  when  you  see  it  ?  " 

"It  has  nine  points,  sir,  with  balls." 

"Very  good.  Then  go  over  to  the  Mulct  and  try  to  get  a 
♦  Conte — story.     Comte  and  conte  are  pronounced  alike — conte. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  73 

look  at  the  tilbury  belonging  to  the  strange  gentleman  who  is 
staying  there  ;  and  come  back  and  tell  me  what  is  painted  on 
it.  Do  the  job  cleverly,  pick  up  anything  you  can  hear.  If 
you  see  the  little  groom,  ask  him  at  what  hour  to-morrow  his 
master  can  receive  the  sub-prefect — say  Monsieur  le  Comte, 
if  by  chance  you're  such  a  coronet.  Don't  drink,  say  noth- 
ing, crorae  back  quickly,  and  when  you  return  let  me  know  by 
just  showing  yourself  at  the  drawing-room  door." 

"Yes,  Monsieur  le  Sous-prefet." 

The  Mulet  Inn,  as  has  been  said,  stands  on  the  square  at 
the  opposite  corner  to  the  garden  wall  of  Madame  Marion's 
house  on  the  other  side  of  the  Brienne  road.  So  the  problem 
would  be  quickly  solved. 

Antonin  Goulard  returned  to  his  seat  by  Mademoiselle 
Beauvisage. 

"We  talked  of  him  so  much  here  last  evening,"  Madame 
Mollot  was  saying,  "  that  I  dreamed  of  him  all  night " 

"Dear,  dear!"  said  Vinet;  "do  you  still  dream  of  the 
Unknown,  fair  lady?" 

"You  are  very  impertinent.  I  could  make  you  dream  of 
me  if  I  chose!  "  she  retorted.  "So  this  morning  when  I 
got  up " 

It  may  here  be  noted  that  Madame  Mollot  was  regarded  at 
Arcis  as  having  a  smart  wit — that  is  to  say,  she  talked  fluently, 
and  took  an  unfair  advantage  of  the  gift.  A  Parisian  wander- 
ing in  those  parts,  like  the  Stranger  in  question,  would  have 
probably  thought  her  an  intolerable  chatterbox. 

— "and  was  dressing,  in  the  natural  course  of  things,  as  I 
looked  straight  before  me " 

"Out  of  window?"  said  Goulard. 

"  Certainly.  My  dressing-room  looks  out  on  the  market- 
place. You  must  know  that  Poupart  has  given  the  Stranger 
one  of  the  rooms  that  face  mine " 

"One  room,  mamma!"  exclaimed  Ernestine.  "The 
count  has  three  rooms !     The  groom,  who  is  all  in  black,  is 


74  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

in  the  first  room ;  the  second  has  been  turned  into  a  sort  of 
drawing-room  ;  and  the  gentleman  sleeps  in  the  third." 

"  Then  he  has  half  the  inn,"  remarked  Mademoiselle  Her- 
belot. 

"Well,  what  has  that  to  do  with  the  man  himself?"  said 
Madame  MoUot,  vexed  at  being  interrupted  by  girls  ;  "  I  am 
speaking  of  his  person." 

"Do  not  interrupt  the  orator,"  said  Olivier  Vinet. 

**  As  I  was  stooping " 

"  Sitting,"  said  Antonin  Goulard. 

"  Madame  was  as  she  ought  to  be — dressing,  and  looking 
at  the  Mulct,"  said  Vinet. 

These  pleasantries  are  highly  esteemed  in  the  country ;  for 
everybody  has  said  everything  there  for  too  long  not  to  be 
content  with  the  same  nonsense  as  amused  our  fathers  before 
the  importation  of  English  prudery,  one  of  the  forms  of  mer- 
chandise which  custom-houses  cannot  prohibit. 

"  Do  not  interrupt  the  orator,"  said  Mademoiselle  Beau- 
visage  to  Vinet,  with  a  responsive  smile. 

— "  my  eyes  involuntarily  fell  on  the  window  of  the  room 
in  which  last  night  the  Stranger  had  gone  to  bed — at  what 
hour  I  cannot  imagine,  for  I  lay  awake  till  after  midnight  ! 
It  is  my  misfortune  to  have  a  husband  who  snores  till  the  walls 
and  ceiling  tremble.  If  I  get  to  sleep  first,  I  sleep  so  heavily 
that  I  hear  nothing ;  but  if  Mollot  gets  the  start,  my  night's 
rest  is  done  for." 

"There  is  a  third  alternative — you  might  go  off  together," 
said  Achille  Pigoult,  coming  to  join  this  cheerful  party.  "  It 
is  your  slumbers  that  are  in  question,  I  perceive " 

"  Hold  your  tongue,  and  get  along  with  you,"  said  Mad- 
ame Mollot,  very  graciously. 

"You  see  what  that  means?"  said  Cecile  in  Ernestine's 
ear. 

"Well,  he  had  not  come  in  by  one  o'clock,"  Madame 
Mollot  went  on. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  75 

"  He  is  a  fraud  !  Sneaking  in  when  you  could  not  see 
him,"  said  Achille  Pigoult.  "  Oh,  he  is  a  knowing  one,  you 
may  depend  !  He  will  get  us  all  into  a  bag  and  sell  us  on  the 
market-place  !  ' ' 

*'  To  whom  ?  "  asked  Vinet. 

"To  a  business, 'to  an  idea,  to  a  system!"  replied  the 
notary,  and  the  other  lawyer  answered  with  a  cunning  smile. 

"Imagine  my  surprise,"  Madame  Mollot  returned,  "when 
I  caught  sight  of  a  piece  of  stuff,  so  magnificent,  so  elegant, 
so  gaudy  !  Said  I  to  myself,  *  He  must  have  a  dressing-gown 
of  that  stuff  woven  with  spun  glass  which  we  saw  at  the  In- 
dustrial Exposition.'  And  I  went  for  my  opera-glasses  and 
looked.  But,  good  heavens  !  what  did  I  see  ?  Above  the 
dressing-gown,  where  his  head  should  have  been,  I  saw  a  huge 
mass,  like  a  big  knee.  No,  I  cannot  tell  you  how  curious  I 
was!" 

"I  can  quite  imagine  it,"  said  Antonin. 

"No,  you  cannot  imagine  it,"  said  Madame  Mollot,  "for 
that  knee " 

"  Oh,  I  see  it  all,"  said  Olivier  Vinet,  shouting  with  laugh- 
ter. "The  stranger  was  dressing  too,  and  you  saw  his  two 
knees " 

"Not  at  all,"  said  Madame  Mollot;  "you  are  putting 
things  into  my  mouth.  The  Stranger  was  standing  up ;  he 
held  a  sponge  over  a  huge  basin,  and  your  rude  joke  be  on 
your  own  head,  Monsieur  Olivier.  I  should  have  known  if  I 
had  seen  what  you  suppose " 

"  Oh  !    have   known Madame,   you   are  committing 

yourself!"   said  Antonin  Goulard. 

"Do  let  me  speak!"  said  Madame  Mollot.  "It  was  his 
head  !     He  was  washing  his  head  !   he  has  not  a  hair." 

"Rash  man!"  said  Antonin  Goulard.  "He  certainly 
cannot  have  come  to  look  for  a  wife.  To  get  married  here  a 
man  must  have  some  hair.     Hair  is  in  great  request." 

"  So  I  have  my  reasons  for  saying  that  he  must  be  fifty. 


76  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

A  man  does  not  take  to  a  wig  before  that  age.  For,  in  fact, 
the  Unknown,  when  he  had  finished  his  toilet,  opened  his 
window,  and  I  beheld  him  from  afar,  the  owner  of  a  splendid 
head  of  black  hair.  He  stuck  up  his  eyeglass  when  I  went  to 
the  balcony.  So,  my  dear  Cecile,  that  gentleman  will  hardly 
be  the  hero  of  your  romance." 

"  Why  not  ?  Men  of  fifty  are  not  to  be  disdained  when 
they  are  counts,"  said  Ernestine. 

"Perhaps  he  had  hair  after  all,"  said  Olivier  Vinet  mis- 
chievously, "  and  then  he  would  be  very  eligible.  The  real 
question  is  whether  it  was  his  bald  head  that  Madame  MoUot 
saw,  or  his " 

**Be  quiet  !  "  said  Madame  Mollot. 

Antonin  Goulard  went  out  to  send  Madame  Marion's  ser- 
vant across  to  the  Mulet  with  instructions  for  Julien. 

**  Bless  me,  what  does  a  husband's  age  matter?  "  said  Made- 
moiselle Herbelot. 

"So  long  as  you  get  one,"  Vinet  put  in.  He  was  much 
feared  for  his  cold  and  malignant  sarcasm. 

"Yes,"  replied  the  old  maid,  piqued  by  the  remark,  "I 
would  rather  have  a  husband  of  fifty,  kind  and  indulgent  to 
his  wife,  than  a  young  man  of  between  twenty  and  thirty 
who  had  no  heart,  and  whose  wit  stung  everybody — even  his 
wife." 

"That,"  said  Olivier  Vinet,  "is  mere  talk,  since  to  prefer 
a  man  of  fifty  to  a  young  man  one  must  have  the  choice !  " 

"  Oh  !  "  said  Madame  Mollot,  to  stop  this  squabble  between 
Mademoiselle  Herbelot  and  young  Vinet,  who  always  went 
too  far,  "  when  a  woman  has  seen  something  of  life,  she  knows 
that  whether  a  husband  is  fifty  or  five-and-twenty,  it  comes  to 
exactly  the  same  thing  if  he  is  merely  esteemed.  The  really 
important  thing  in  marriage  is  the  suitability  of  circumstances 
to  be  considered.  If  Mademoiselle  Beauvisage  wishes  to  live 
in  Paris — and  that  would  be  my  notion  in  her  place — I  would 
certainly  not  marry  anybody  in  Arcis.     If  I  had  had  such  a 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  77 

fortune  as  she  will  have,  I  might  very  well  have  given  my 
hand  to  a  count,  a  man  who  could  have  placed  me  in  a  good 
social  position,  and  I  should  not  have  asked  to  see  his  pedi- 
gree." 

"It  would  have  been  enough  for  you  to  have  seen  him  at 
his  toilet,"  said  Vinet'in  a  murmur  to  Madame  Mollot. 

"But  the  King  can  make  a  count,  madame,"  observed 
Madame  Marion,  who  had  been  standing  for  a  minute  or  two 
looking  at  the  circle  of  young  people. 

"  But  some  young  ladies  like  their  counts  ready-made,"  said 
Vinet. 

"  Now,  Monsieur  Antonin,"  said  Cecile,  laughing  at  Olivier 
Vinet's  speech,  **  the  ten  minutes  are  over,  and  we  do  not  yet 
know  whether  the  Stranger  is  a  count." 

*'  The  Government  must  prove  itself  infallible,"  said  Vinet, 
turning  to  Antonin. 

"  I  will  keep  my  word,"  replied  the  sub-prefect,  seeing  his 
servant's  face  in  the  doorway.     And  he  again  left  his  seat. 

"You  are  talking  of  the  Stranger  !  "  said  Madame  Marion. 
"  Does  any  one  know  anything  about  him  !  " 

"No,  madame,"  said  Achille  Pigoult.  "But  he,  without 
knowing  it,  is  like  an  athlete  in  a  circus — the  object  of  interest 
to  two  thousand  pairs  of  eyes.  I  do  know  something,"  added 
the  little  notary. 

"  Oh,  tell  us,  Monsieur  Achille  !  "  Ernestine  eagerly  ex- 
claimed. 

"  His  servant's  name  is  Paradis." 

"  Paradis  !  "  echoed  everybody. 

"  Can  any  one  be  called  Paradis?"  asked  Madame  Herbe- 
lot,  taking  a  seat  by  her  sister-in-law. 

"It  goes  far  to  prove  that  his  master  is  an  angel,"  the 
notary  went  on,  "  for  when  his  servant  follows  him  you  see 
then  that " 

"  *  C^ est  le  chemin  du  Paradis.  '*  That  is  really  very  neat,** 
*  This  is  the  way  of  Paradise. 


78  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

said  Madame  Marion,  who  was  anxious  to  secure  Achille 
Pigoult  in  her  nephew's  interest. 

"Monsieur,"  Julien  was  saying  to  his  master  in  the  dining- 
room,  "there  is  a  coat-of-arms  on  the  tilbury." 

"  A  coat-of-arms?  " 

"And  very  queer  they  are.  There  is  a  coronet  over  them 
— nine  points  with  balls " 

"  Then  he  is  a  count " 

"And  a  winged  monster  running  like  mad,  just  like  a  postil- 
lion that  has  lost  something.  And  this  is  what  is  written  on  the 
ribbon,"  said  he,  taking  a  scrap  of  paper  out  of  his  waistcoat 
pocket.  * '  Mademoiselle  Anicette,  the  Princesse  de  Cadignan's 
maid,  who  had  just  come — in  a  carriage,  of  course — to  bring 
a  letter  to  the  gentleman  (and  the  carriage  from  Cinq-Cygne 
is  waiting  at  the  door),  copied  the  words  down  for  me." 

"Give  it  me." 

The  sub-prefect  read  : 

^^Quo  me  trahit  fortunay 

Though  he  was  not  a  sufficiently  accomplished  herald  to 
know  what  family  bore  this  motto,  Antonin  supposed  that  the 
Cinq-Cygnes  would  hardly  lend  their  chaise  for  the  Princesse 
de  Cadignan  to  send  an  express  messenger  to  any  one  not  of 
the  highest  nobility. 

"Oho  !  so  you  know  the  princess'  maid?  You  are  a  lucky 
beggar,"  said  Antonin  to  the  man. 

Julien,  a  native  of  the  place,  after  being  in  service  at  Gon- 
dreville  for  six  months,  had  been  engaged  by  Monsieur  le  Sub- 
prefect,  who  wished  to  have  a  stylish  servant. 

"  Well,  monsieur,  Anicette  was  my  father's  god-daughter. 
And  father,  who  felt  kindly  toward  the  poor  child,  as  her 
father  was  dead,  sent  her  to  Paris  to  learn  dressmaking ;  my 
mother  could  not  bear  the  sight  of  her." 

"Is  she  pretty?" 

"Not  amiss,  Monsieur  le  Sous-prefet.  More  by  token  she 
bad  her  little  troubles  in  Paris,    However,  a§  she  is  clever, 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  79 

and  can  make  dresses  and  understands  hairdressing,  the  prin- 
cess took  her  on  the  recommendation  of  Monsieur  Marin, 
head-valet  to  Monsieur  le  Due  de  Maufrigneuse." 

"And  what  did  she  say  about  Cinq-Cygne?  Is  there  a 
great  deal  of  company  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,  a  greaT>deal.  The  princess  is  there,  and  Mon- 
sieur d'Arthez,  the  Due  de  Maufrigneuse  and  the  duchess,  and 
the  young  marquis.  In  short,  the  house  is  full.  Monseigneur 
the  Bishop  of  Troyes  is  expected  this  evening." 

"Monseigneur  Troubert.  Oh,  I  should  like  to  know 
whether  he  makes  any  stay  there." 

"Anicette  thought  he  would.  She  fancies  he  has  come  on 
account  of  the  gentleman  who  is  lodging  at  the  Mulet.  And 
more  people  are  expected.  The  coachman  said  there  was  a 
great  talk  about  the  elections.  Monsieur  le  President  Michu 
is  to  spend  a  few  days  there." 

"  Just  try  to  get  that  maid  into  the  town  on  some  pretext. 
Have  you  any  fancy  for  her?  " 

"  If  she  had  anything  of  her  own,  there  is  no  knowing.  She 
is  a  smart  girl." 

"  Well,  tell  her  to  come  to  see  you  at  the  sub-prefecture." 

"  Very  well,  sir  ;  I  will  go  at  once." 

"But  do  not  mention  me,  or  she  will  not  come.  Tell  her 
you  have  heard  of  a  good  place " 

"Oh,  sir  !  I  was  in  service  at  Gondreville " 


"And  you  do  not  know  the  history  of  that  message  sent 
from  Cing-Cygne  at  such  an  hour.     For  it  is  half-past  nine." 

"  It  was  something  pressing,  it  would  seem  ;  for  the  comte, 
who  had  just  come  in  from  Gondreville " 

"  The  Stranger  had  been  to  Gondreville  !  " 

"  He  dined  there,  Monsieur  le  Sous-prefet.  And,  you  shall 
see,  it  is  the  greatest  joke.  The  little  groom  is  as  drunk  as  an 
owl,  saving  your  presence.  They  gave  him  so  much  cham- 
pagne wine  in  the  servants'  hall  that  he  canno^  keep  on  his 
legs.     They  did  it  for  a  joke^  no  doubt." 


80  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"Well— but  the  count?" 

"  The  count  had  gone  to  bed,  but  as  soon  as  he  read  the 
note  he  got  up.  He  is  now  dressing.  They  were  putting  the 
horse  in,  and  he  is  going  out  in  the  tilbury  to  spend  the  rest 
of  the  evening  at  Cinq-Cygne." 

"  Then  he  is  a  person  of  importance?  " 

**  Oh,  yes,  sir,  no  doubt ;  for  Gothard,  the  steward  at  Cinq- 
Cygne,  came  this  morning  to  see  Poupart,  who  is  his  brother- 
in-law,  and  told  him  to  be  sure  to  hold  his  tongue  about  the 
gentleman  and  his  doings,  and  to  serve  him  as  if  he  were  the 
King." 

"Then  can  Vinet  be  right?  "  thought  Goulard  to  himself. 
"  Is  there  some  plot  brewing?  " 

"  It  was  the  Due  Georges  de  Maufrigneuse  who  sent  Mon- 
sieur Gothard  to  the  Mulct ;  and  when  Poupart  came  here  to 
the  meeting  this  morning,  it  was  because  this  count  made  him 
come.  If  he  were  to  tell  Monsieur  Poupart  to  set  out  for 
Paris  to-night,  he  would  go.  Gothard  told  his  brother-in-law 
to  throw  everything  over  for  the  gentleman  and  hoodwink  all 
inquirers." 

"  If  you  can  get  hold  of  Anicette,  be  sure  to  let  me  know," 
said  Antonin. 

"Well,  I  could  go  to  see  her  at  Clinq-Cygne,  sir,  if  you 
were  to  send  me  out  to  your  house  at  le  Val-Preux." 

"  That  is  a  good  idea.  You  might  get  a  lift  on  the  chaise. 
But  what  about  the  little  groom  ?  " 

"  He  is  a  smart  little  chap,  Monsieur  le  Sous-prefet !  Just 
fancy,  sir,  screwed  as  he  is,  he  has  just  ridden  off  on  his  mas- 
ter's fine  English  horse,  a  thoroughbred  that  can  cover  seven 
leagues  an  hour,  to  carry  a  letter  to  Troyes,  that  it  may  reach 
Paris  to-morrow !  And  the  kid  is  no  more  than  nine  and  a 
half  years  old  !  What  will  he  have  become  by  the  time  he  is 
twenty?" 

The  sub-prefect  listened  mechanically  to  this  last  piece  of 
domestic  gossip.     Julien  chattered  on  for  a  few  minutes,  and 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  81 

Goulard  heard  him  vaguely,  thinking  all  the  time  of  the 
great  Unknown. 

"  Wait  a  little,"  he  said  to  the  servant. 

"What  a  puzzle!  "  thought  he,  as  he  slowly  returned  to 
the  drawing-room.  **  A  man  who  dines  with  the  Comte  de 
Gondreville,  and  who'^pends  the  night  at  Cinq-Cygne ! 
Mysteries  with  a  vengeance  !  " 

"Well !  "  cried  Mademoiselle  Beauvisage's  little  circle  as 
he  joined  them. 

"Well,  he  is  a  count,  and  of  the  right  sort,  I  will  answer 
for  it !  " 

"Oh,  how  I  should  like  to  see  him  !  "  exclaimed  Cecile. 

"Mademoiselle,"  said  Antonin,  with  a  mischievous  smile 
at  Madame  Mollot,  "  he  is  tall  and  well  made,  and  does  not 
wear  a  wig  !  His  little  tiger  was  as  tipsy  as  a  lord  j  they  had 
filled  him  up  with  wine  in  the  servants'  hall  at  Gondreville ; 
and  the  child,  who  is  but  nine,  replied  to  Julien  with  all  the 
dignity  of  an  old  valet  when  my  man  said  something  about 
his  master's  wig.  *  A  wig  !  My  master  !  I  would  not  stay 
with  him.     He  dyes  his  hair,  and  that  is  bad  enough.'  " 

"Your  opera-glasses  magnify  a  good  deal,"  said  AchiUe 
Pigoult  to  Madame  Mollot,  who  laughed. 

"Well,  and  this  boy  of  our  handsome  count's,  tipsy  as  he 
is,  has  flown  off  to  Troyes  to  carry  a  letter,  and  will  be  there 
in  an  hour  and  a  quarter,  in  spite  of  the  darkness." 

"  I  should  like  to  see  the  tiger  !  "  said  Vinet. 

"If  he  dined  at  Gondreville,  we  shall  soon  know  all  about 
this  count,"  said  Cecile,  "  for  grandpapa  is  going  there  to- 
morrow morning." 

"What  will  seem  even  more  strange,"  said  Antonin  Gou- 
lard, "  is  that  a  special  messenger,  in  the  person  of  Mademoi- 
selle Anicette,  the  Princesse  de  Cadignan's  maid,  has  come 
from  Cinq-Cygne  to  the  stranger,  and  he  is  going  to  spend 
the  night  there." 

"Bless  me!"  said  Olivier  Vinet ;  "but  he  is  not  a  man 
6 


82  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

— he  is  a  demon,  a  phoenix  !  He  is  the  friend  of  both  parties ! 
He  can  ingurgitate " 

**  For  shame,  monsieur  !  "  said  Madame  Mollot,  "  you  use 
words ' ' 

**  Ingurgitate  is  good  Latin,  madame,"  replied  Vinet  very 
gravely.  "  He  ingurgitates,  I  say,  with  King  Louis-Philippe 
in  the  morning,  and  banquets  at  Holyrood  in  the  evening 
with  Charles  X.  There  is  but  one  reason  that  can  allow  a 
respectable  Christian  to  frequent  both  camps  and  go  alike  to 
the  Capulets'  and  the  Montagus'.  Ah  !  I  know  what  the 
man  is  !  He  is  the  manager  of  the  railroad  line  between 
Paris  and   Lyons,  or  Paris   and   Dijon,   or  Montereau  and 


Troyes " 

"Of course!"  cried  Antonin.  "You  have  hit  it.  Only 
finance,  interest,  or  speculation  are  equally  welcome  wherever 
they  go." 

"Yes,  and  just  now  the  greatest  names,  the  greatest  fami- 
lies, the  old  and  the  new  nobility,  are  rushing  full  tilt  into 
joint-stock  concerns,"  said  Achille  Pigoult. 

"  Francs  to  the  Frank  !  "  said  Olivier,  without  a  smile. 

"You  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  the  olive  branch  of  peace," 
said  Madame  Mollot. 

"But  is  it  not  disgusting  to  see  such  names  as  Verneuil, 
Maufrigneuse,  and  d'Herouville  cheek  by  jowl  with  Tillet 
and  Nucingen  in  the  quotations  on  'Change?" 

"  Our  stranger  is,  you  may  depend,  an  infant  railroad  line," 
said  Vinet. 

"Well,  all  Arcis  will  be  topsy-turvy  by  to-morrow,"  said 
Achille  Pigoult.  "I  will  call  on  the  gentleman  to  get  the 
notary's  work  in  the  concern.  There  will  be  two  thousand 
deeds  to  draw  up." 

"And  so  our  romance  is  a  locomotive!"  said  Ernestine 
sadly  to  Cecile. 

"  Nay,  a  count  and  a  railway  company  in  one  is  doubly 
conjugal,"  said  Achille.     "  But — is  he  a  bachelor  ?  " 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  88 

"  I  will  find  out  to-morrow  from  grandpapa !  "  cried  Cecile 
with  affected  enthusiasm. 

'*  A  pretty  joke  !  "  exclaimed  Madame  Marion  with  a  forced 
laugh.  "Why,  Cecile,  child,  is  your  brain  running  on  the 
Unknown  ?  " 

"A  husband  is  alwSys  the  Unknown,"  remarked  Olivier 
Vinet  hastily,  with  a  glance  at  Mademoiselle  Beauvisage, 
which  she  perfectly  understood. 

"And  why  not?"  said  she.  "  There  is  nothing  compro- 
mising in  that.  Beside,  if  these  gentlemen  are  right,  he  is 
either  a  great  lord  or  a  great  speculator.  My  word  !  I  can 
do  with  either.  I  like  Paris  !  I  want  a  carriage,  and  a  fine 
house,  and  a  box  at  the  opera,  et  cater  a. '  * 

"To  be  sure,"  said  Vinet.  "Why  refuse  yourself  any- 
thing in  a  day-dream  ?  Now,  if  I  had  the  honor  to  be  your 
brother,  you  should  marry  the  young  Marquis  de  Cinq-Cygne, 
who  is,  it  strikes  me,  the  young  fellow  to  make  the  money 
fly,  and  to  laugh  at  his  mother's  objections  to  the  actors  in 
the  judicial  drama  in  which  our  presiding  judge's  father  came 
to  such  a  sad  end." 

"You  would  find  it  easier  to  become  prime  minister!" 
said  Madame  Marion.  "There  can  never  be  any  alliance 
between  Grevin's  grand-daughter  and  the  Cinq-Cygnes." 

"Romeo  was  within  an  ace  of  marrying  Juliet,"  said 
Achille  Pigoult ;  "  and  Mademoiselle  Cecile  is  handsomer 
and " 

"Oh,  if  you  quote  opera!  "  said  Herbelot  feebly,  as  he 
rose  from  the  whist-table. 

"My  colleague,"  said  Achille  Pigoult,  "is  evidently  not 
strong  in  medigeval  history." 

"  Come  along,  Malvina,"  said  the  sturdy  notary,  without 
answering  his  young  brother  of  the  law. 

"Tell  me.  Monsieur  Antonin,"  said  Cecile,  "you  spoke 
of  Anicette,  the  Princesse  de  Cadignan's  maid — do  you  know 
her?" 


84  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"  No ;  but  Julien  does.  She  is  his  father's  godchild,  and 
they  are  old  friends." 

"Oh,  do  try,  through  Julien,  to  get  her  for  us;  mamma 
will  give  any  wages " 

"  Mademoiselle,  to  hear  is  to  obey,  as  they  say  to  the  des- 
pots in  Asia,"  replied  the  sub-prefect.  "To  serve  you,  see 
how  prompt  I  will  be." 

He  went  off  to  desire  Julien  to  get  a  lift  in  the  chaise  re- 
turning to  Cinq-Cygne,  and  win  over  Anicette  at  any  cost. 

At  this  moment  Simon  Giguet,  who  had  been  put  through 
his  paces  by  all  the  influential  men  of  Arcis,  and  who  believed 
himself  secure  of  his  election,  joined  the  circle  round  Cecile 
and  Mademoiselle  MoUot. 

It  was  getting  late ;  ten  had  struck. 

Having  consumed  an  enormous  quantity  of  cakes,  of  orgeat, 
punch,  lemonade,  and  various  fruit  syrups,  all  who  had  come 
that  evening  to  Madame  Marion's  on  purely  political  grounds, 
and  were  unaccustomed  to  tread  these  boards — to  them  quite 
aristocratic — disappeared  promptly,  all  the  more  so  because 
they  never  sat  up  so  late.  The  party  would  now  be  more  in- 
timate in  its  tone ;  Simon  Giguet  hoped  to  be  able  to  exchange 
a  few  words  with  Cecile,  and  looked  at  her  with  a  conquering 
air.     This  greatly  offended  Cecile. 

"  My  dear  fellow,"  said  Antonin  to  Simon,  as  he  saw  the 
aureola  of  triumph  on'his  friend's  brow,  "you  have  joined 
us  at  a  moment  when  all  the  men  of  Arcis  are  in  the  wrong 
box " 

"  Quite  wrong,"  said  Ernestine,  nudged  by  Cecile.  "  We 
are  quite  crazy  about  the  Unknown.  C6cile  and  I  are  quar- 
reling for  him." 

"To  begin  with,  he  is  no  longer  unknown,"  said  C6cile. 
"He  is  a  count." 

"  Some  adventurer !  "  said  Simon  Giguet  scornfully. 

"Would  you  say  that  to  his  face,"  retorted  Cecile,  much 
nettled.     "A  man  who  has  j?ast  had  a  message  by  one  of  the 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  85 

Princesse  de  Cadignan's  servants,  who  dined  to-day  at  Gon- 
dreville,  and  is  gone  to  spend  this  very  evening  with  the 
Marquise  de  Cinq-Cygne  ?  " 

She  spoke  so  eagerly  and  sharply  that  Simon  was  put  out  of 
countenance. 

"Indeed,  mademoiselle,"  said  Oliver  Vinet,  "if  we  all 
said  to  people's  faces  what  we  say  behind  each  other's  backs, 
society  would  be  impossible.  The  pleasure  of  society,  especi- 
ally in  the  country,  consists  in  speaking  ill  of  others." 

"Monsieur  Simon  is  jealous  of  your  enthusiasm  about  the 
strange  count,"  remarked  Ernestine. 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  said  Cecile,  "  that  Monsieur  Simon  has 
no  right  to  be  jealous  of  any  fancy  of  mine  !  " 

And  saying  this  in  a  tone  to  annihilate  Simon,  Cecile  rose. 
Everybody  made  way  for  her,  and  she  joined  her  mother,  who 
was  settling  her  gambling  account. 

"  My  dear  girl,"  said  Madame  Marion,  close  at  her  heels, 
**  it  seems  to  me  that  you  are  very  hard  on  my  poor  Simon." 

"  Why,  what  has  the  dear  little  puss  been  doing?  "  asked 
her  mother. 

"  Mamma,  Monsieur  Simon  gave  ray  Unknown  a  slap  in 
the  face  by  calling  him  an  adventurer." 

Simon  had  followed  his  aunt,  and  was  now  on  the  battle- 
field by  the  whist-table.  Thus  the  four  persons,  whose  inter- 
ests were  so  serious,  were  collected  in  the  middle  of  the  room  ; 
Cecile  and  her  mother  on  one  side  of  the  table,  Madame 
Marion  and  her  nephew  on  the  other. 

"Really,  madame,"  said  Simon  Giguet,  "you  must  con- 
fess that  a  young  lady  must  be  very  anxious  to  find  me  in  the 
wrong,  to  be  vexed  by  my  saying  that  a  man  of  whom  all 
Arcis  is  talking,  and  who  is  living  at  the  Mulet " 

"  Do  you  suppose  he  is  competing  with  you  ?  "  said  Madame 
Beauvisage  jestingly. 

"  I  should  certainly  feel  it  a  deep  grievance  if  he  should  be 
the   cause   of  any  misunderstanding   between   Mademoiselle 


86  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

Cecile  and  me,"  said  the  candidate,  with  a  beseeching  look  at 
the  girl. 

"  But  you  pronounced  sentence,  monsieur,  in  a  cutting 
tone,  which  proved  you  to  be  despotic — and  you  are  right ; 
if  you  hope  ever  to  be  minister,  you  must  cut  a  good  deal  !  " 

Madame  Beauvisage  took  Madame  Marion  by  the  arm  and 
led  her  to  a  sofa.  Cecile,  left  alone,  went  to  join  the  circle, 
that  she  might  not  hear  any  reply  that  Simon  might  make ; 
and  he  remained  by  the  table,  looking  foolish  enough,  me- 
chanically playing  tricks  with  the  bone  fish. 

"  There  are  as  good  fish  in  the  sea  !  "  said  Oliver  Vinet, 
who  had  observed  the  little  scene ;  and  Cecile,  overhearing 
the  remark,  though  it  was  spoken  in  a  low  tone,  could  not 
help  laughing. 

"  My  dear  friend,"  said  Madame  Marion  to  Madame 
Beauvisage,  "  nothing  now,  you  see,  can  hinder  my  nephew's 
election." 

"I  congratulate  you — and  the  Chamber,"  said  Madame 
S6verine. 

"  And  my  nephew  will  make  his  mark,  my  dear.  I  will 
tell  you  why :  his  own  fortune,  and  what  his  father  will  leave 
him,  with  mine,  will  bring  him  in  about  thirty  thousand  francs 
a  year.  When  a  man  is  a  member  of  parliament  and  has 
such  a  fortune,  there  is  nothing  he  may  not  aspire  to." 

"  Madame,  he  will  command  our  admiration,  and  our  best 
wishes  will  be  with  him  throughout  his  political  career, 
but " 

"  I  ask  for  no  reply,"  exclaimed  Madame  Marion,  eagerly 
interrupting  her  friend.  "  I  only  ask  you  to  think  it  over. 
Do  our  young  people  like  each  other?  Can  we  arrange  the 
match  ?  We  shall  live  in  Paris  whenever  the  Chambers  are 
sitting,  and  who  knows  but  the  Deputy  for  Arcis  may  be 
settled  there  by  getting  some  good  place  in  office  ?  See  how 
Monsieur  Vinet  of  Provins  has  got  on  !  Mademoiselle  de 
Chargebceuf  was   thought  very   foolish   to   marry  him;  and 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  87 

before  long  she  will  be  the  wife  of  the  keeper  of  the  seals, 
and  Monsieur  Vinet  may  have  a  peerage  if  he  likes." 

"  Madame,  it  does  not  rest  with  me  to  settle  my  daughter's 
marriage.  In  the  first  place,  her  father  and  I  leave  her  abso- 
lutely free  to  choose  for  herself.  If  she  wanted  to  marry  the 
Unknown,  if  he  were  «  suitable  match,  we  should  give  our 
consent.  Then  Cecile  depends  entirely  on  her  grandfather, 
who,  as  a  wedding-gift,  will  settle  on  her  a  house  in  Paris, 
the  Hotel  Beauseant,  which  he  bought  for  us  ten  years  ago, 
and  which  at  the  present  day  is  worth  eight  hundred  thousand 
francs.  It  is  one  of  the  finest  mansions  in  the  Faubourg 
Germain.  He  has  also  a  sum  of  two  hundred  thousand  francs 
put  by  for  furnishing  it.  Now  a  grandfather  who  behaves  in 
that  way,  and  who  will  persuade  my  mother-in-law  on  her 
part  to  do  something  for  her  grandchild,  has  some  right  to 
an  opinion  on  the  question  of  a  suitable  match " 

"  Certainly  !  "  said  Madame  Marion,  amazed  at  this  revela- 
tion, which  would  add  to  the  difSculties  of  her  nephew's 
marriage  with  Cecile. 

"And  even  if  Cecile  had  no  expectations  from  her  grand- 
father," Madame  Beauvisage  went  on,  "she  would  not  marry 
without  consulting  him.  The  young  man  my  father  had 
chosen  is  just  dead ;  I  do  not  know  what  his  present  inten- 
tions may  be.  If  you  have  any  proposals  to  make,  go  and 
see  my  father." 

"  Very  well,  I  will,"  said  Madame  Marion. 

Madame  Beauvisage  signaled  to  Cecile,  and  they  left. 

On  the  following  afternoon  Antonin  and  Frederic  Marest 
were  walking,  as  was  their  after-dinner  custom,  with  Monsieur 
Martener  and  Olivier  under  the  limes  of  the  Avenue  des 
Soupirs,  smoking  their  cigars. 

They  had  taken  but  a  few  turns  when  they  were  joined  by 
Simon  Giguet,  who  said  to  the  sub-prefect  with  an  air  of 
mystery — 

**  You  will  surely  stick  by  an  old  comrade,  who  will  make 


88  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

it  his  business  to  get  you  the  Legion  of  Honor  and  a  pre- 
fecture !'' 

"Are  you  beginning  your  political  career  already  ?  "  said 
Antonin,  laughing.  "  So  you  are  trying  to  bribe  me — you 
who  are  such  a  puritan  ?  " 

"Will  you  support  me?" 

"  My  dear  fellow,  you  know  that  Bar-sur-Aube  registers  its 
votes  here  ?  Who  can  guarantee  a  majority  under  such  cir- 
cumstances ?  My  colleague  at  Bar-sur-Aube  would  show  me 
up  if  I  did  not  do  as  much  as  he  to  support  the  Government ; 
and  your  promises  are  conditional,  while  my  overthrow  would 
be  a  certainty." 

"  But  I  have  no  opponent." 

"So  you  think,"  said  Antonin.  "But  one  will  turn  up, 
there  is  no  doubt  of  that." 

"And  my  aunt,  who  knows  that  I  am  on  tenter-hooks,  has 
not  come  back!"  cried  Giguet.  "These  three  hours  may 
count  for  three  years !  " 

And  the  great  secret  came  out.  He  confided  to  his  friend 
that  Madame  Marion  was  gone  to  propose  on  his  behalf  to  old 
Gr^vin  for  Cecile. 

The  friends  had  walked  on  as  far  as  the  Brienne  road,  just 
opposite  the  Mulet.  While  Simon  stared  down  the  hill,  up 
which  his  aunt  would  return  from  the  bridge,  the  sub-prefect 
was  studying  the  runlets  worn  in  the  ground  by  the  rain. 
Arcis  is  not  paved  with  either  flagstones  or  cobbles,  for  the 
plains  of  Champagne  afford  no  building  materials,  much  less 
any  pebbles  large  enough  to  make  a  road. 

At  this  particular  moment  the  Stranger  was  returning  from 
the  Castle  of  Cinq-Cygne,  where  he  had  evidently  spent  the 
night.  Goulard  was  determined  to  clear  up  for  himself  the 
mystery  in  which  the  Stranger  chose  to  wrap  himself — being 
also  wrapped,  so  far  as  his  outer  man  was  concerned,  in  a  light 
overcoat  or  paletot  of  coarse  frieze,  such  as  was  then  the  fashion. 
A  cloak  thrown  over  him  hid  his  figure  from  view,  and  an 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  S9 

enormous  comforter  of  red  cashmere  covered  his  face  up  to 
;he  eyes.  His  hat,  knowingly  set  on  one  side,  was,  neverthe- 
less, not  extravagant.  Never  was  a  mystery  so  mysteriously 
snr.othered  and  concealed. 

•'  Clear  the  way !  "  cried  the  tiger,  riding  in  front  of  the 
tlbury.  "  Opeji  the  gate.  Daddy  Poupart !  "  he  piped  in  his 
slrill  little  voice." 

The  three  stablemen  ran  out,  and  the  tilbury  went  in  with- 
oit  any  one  having  seen  the  driver's  face. 
The  sub-prefect  followed  it,  however,  to  the  door  of  the  inn. 
*  Madame  Poupart,"  said  Antonin,  "  will  you  tell  Monsieur 
— ionsieur?" 

*I  do  not  know  his  name,"  said  Gothard's  sister. 
"Then   you   are   to   blame.     The   police   regulations   are 
defiite,  and  Monsieur  Groslier  does  not  see  a  joke — like  all 
polie  authorities  when  they  have  nothing  to  do." 

"  nnkeepers  are  never  in  the  wrong  at  election  time,"  said 
the  ti^er,  getting  off  his  horse. 

"Iwill  tell  that  to  Vinet,"   thought   the  official.     "Go 
and  at  your  master  to  see  me,  the  sub-prefect  of  Arcis. ' ' 

Antnin  went  back  to  his  three  friends,  who  had  stopped 
outsid<on  seeing  the  sub-prefect  in  conversation  with  the 
tiger,  ^eady  famous  in  Arcis  for  his  name  and  his  ready  wit. 
"  MGsieur  begs  that  Monsieur  le  Sous-prefet  will  walk  up. 
He  will>e  delighted  to  see  him,"  Paradis  came  out  in  a  few 
minutes^  say  this  to  Antonin. 

"I  sa) little  man,"  said  Olivier,  ''how  much  a  year  does 
your  masr  give  a  youth  of  your  spirit  and  inches?  " 

"Give^onsieur?     What  do  you  take  me  for  ?     Monsieur 
le  Comte  iows  himself  to  be  done — and  I  am  satisfied." 
"That  W  is  at  a  good  school,"  said  Frederic  Marest. 
"The  IVh  School,.  Monsieur  le  Procureur  du  Roi,"  re- 
plied Parad  and  the  five  men  stared  at  his  cool  impudence. 
"What  aWaro  !  "  exclaimed  Vinet. 
"  It  does  It  do  to  sing  small,"  said  the  boy.    "  My  master 


90  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

calls  me  a  little  Robert  Macaire.  Since  we  have  found  out 
how  to  invest  in  the  Funds,  we  are  Figaro — with  the  savings 
bank  into  the  bargain." 

**  Why,  what  do  you  earn  ?  " 

**  There  are  times  when  I  make  a  thousand  crowns  or  a 
race — and  without  selling  my  master,  monsieur." 

"  Sublime  infant !     He  knows  the  turf " 

"And  all  the  gentlemen  riders !  "  said  the  boy,  puttingout 
his  tongue  at  Vinet. 

**  Paradise  Road  goes  a  long  way  !  "  said  Frederic  Marst. 

Antonin  Goulard,  meanwhile,  shown  up  by  the  innkeper, 
found  the  Unknown  in  the  room  he  used  for  a  drawing-nom, 
and  himself  under  inspection  through  a  most  impertinen  eye- 
glass. 

"  Monsieur,"  said  Antonin  Goulard  in  a  rather  loftjtone, 
"I  have  just  heard  from  the  innkeeper's  wife  that  yourefuse 
to  conform  to  the  police  regulations ;  and  as  I  have  ncdoubt 
that  you  are  a  man  of  some  consequence,  I  have  comerayself 
that " 

"Your  name  is  Goulard ?"  said  the  Stranger  ini  head- 
voice. 

"I  am  sub-prefect,  monsieur,"  said  Antonin  Goulrd. 

"Your  father,  I  think,  was  attached  to  the  Simeu^s?" 

"And  I  am  attached  to  the  Government.  Tnes  have 
changed." 

"  You  have  a  servant  named  Julien  who  wan  to  bribe 
away  the  Princesse  de  Cadignan's  waiting-maid?" 

"  Monsieur,  I  allow  no  one  to  speak  to  me  in  Jch  a  way; 
you  misunderstand  my  character " 

"But  you  wish  to  understand  mine,"  interrupd  the  other. 
"You  may  write  it  in  the  inn-register:  *An  in^^rtinent  per- 
son from  Paris,  age  doubtful,  traveling  for  hisleasure.'  It 
would  be  an  innovation  highly  appreciated  in  ranee  to  imi- 
tate the  English  method  of  allowing  people  to  'me  and  go  as 
they  please  without  annoying  them  and  askinthem  for  their 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  91 

papers  at  every  turn.  I  have  no  passport :  what  will  you  do 
to  me?" 

*'  The  public  prosecutor  is  out  there  under  the  limes " 

said  the  sub-prefect. 

''Monsieur  Marest?  Wish  him  from  me  a  very  good- 
morning." 

"  But  who  are  you  ?  " 

"  Whatever  you  wish  me  to  be,  my  dear  Monsieur  Goulard," 
said  the  Stranger,  "since  it  is  you  who  must  decide  howl 
should  appear  before  the  good  folk  of  this  district.  Give  me 
some  advice  as  to  my  demeanor.     Here — read  this." 

And  the  visitor  held  out  a  note  reading  as  follows : 

"  {Private.')         Prefecture  of  the  Aube. 

"Monsieur  le  Sous-prEfet: — Be  good  enough  to  take 
steps  with  the  bearer  as  to  the  election  in  Arcis,  and  conform 
to  his  requirements  in  every  particular.  I  request  you  to  be 
absolutely  secret,  and  to  treat  him  with  the  respect  due  to  his 
rank." 

The  note  was  written  and  signed  by  the  prefect  of  the  de- 
partment. 

"You  have  been  talking  prose  without  knowing  it,"  said 
the  Stranger,  as  he  took  the  letter  back. 

Antonin  Goulard,  already  impressed  by  the  man's  gentle- 
manly appearance  and  manner,  spoke  respectfully. 

"  How  is  that,  monsieur?  "  said  he. 

"  By  trying  to  bribe  Anicette.  She  came  to  tell  me  of 
Julien's  offers — you  may  call  him  Julian  the  Apostate,  for 
little  Paradis,  my  tiger,  routed  him  completely,  and  he  ended 
by  confessing  that  you  were  anxious  to  place  Anicette  in  the 
service  of  the  richest  family  in  Arcis.  Now,  as  the  richest 
family  in  Arcis  are  the  Beauvisages,  I  presume  that  it  is  Made- 
moiselle Cecile  who  is  anxious  to  secure  such  a  treasure." 

"Yes,  monsieur." 


92  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCJS. 

*'  Very  well,  Mademoiselle  Anicette  can  go  to  the  Beau- 
visages  at  once." 

He  whistled.  Paradis  appeared  so  promptly  that  his  master 
said — 

"You  were  listening." 

"  I  cannot  help  myself,  Monsieur  le  Comte,  the  walls  are 
made  of  paper.  If  you  like,  Monsieur  le  Comte,  I  can  go  to 
an  upstairs  room." 

*'  No,  you  may  listen  ;  it  is  your  privilege.  It  is  my  business 
to  speak  low  when  I  do  not  want  you  to  hear.  Now,  go  back 
to  Cinq-Cygne,  and  give  this  twenty-franc  piece  to  Anicette 
from  me.  Julien  will  be  supposed  to  have  bribed  her  on  your 
account,"  he  added,  turning  to  Goulard.  "This  gold-piece 
means  that  she  is  to  do  as  Julien  tells  her.  Anicette  may  pos- 
sibly be  of  use  to  our  candidate. ' ' 

"Anicette!  " 

"You  see.  Monsieur  le  Sous-prdfet,  I  have  made  use  of 
waiting-maids  for  two-and-thirty  years.  I  had  my  first  adven- 
ture at  the  age  of  thirteen,  exactly  like  the  Regent,  the  present 
King's  great-great-grandfather.  Now,  do  you  know  the  amount 
of  this  demoiselle  Beauvisage's  fortune?" 

"  No  one  can  help  knowing  it,  monsieur  ;  for  last  evening, 
at  Madame  Marion's,  Madame  Severine  said  that  Monsieur 
Gr6vin,  Cecile's  grandfather,  would  give  her  the  H6tel 
Beaus6ant  and  two  hundred  thousand  francs  on  her  wedding- 
day." 

The  Stranger's  eyes  betrayed  no  surprise ;  he  seemed  to 
think  it  a  very  moderate  fortune. 

"  Do  you  know  Arcis  well?  "  he  asked  Goulard. 

"  I  am  sub-prefect  of  the  town,  and  I  was  born  here." 

"Well,  then,  how  can  I  balk  curiosity?" 

"  By  satisfying  it,  Monsieur  le  Comte.  Use  your  Christian 
name ;  enter  that  and  your  title  on  the  register." 

"  Very  good  :   Comte  Maxime." 

"And  if  you  would  call  yourself  the  manager  of  a  railway 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  93 

company,  Arcis  would  be  content ;  you  could  keep  it  quiet  for 
a  fortnight  by  flying  that  flag." 

"  No,  I  prefer  water-works ;  it  is  less  common.  I  have  come 
to  improve  the  waste-lands  of  the  province.  That,  my  dear 
Monsieur  Goulard,  will  be  an  excuse  for  inviting  myself  to 
dine  at  your  house-'to  meet  the  Beauvisages — to-morrow.  I 
particularly  wish  to  see  and  study  them." 

"I  shall  only  be  too  happy,"  said  the  official.  "But  I 
must  ask  your  indulgence  for  the  poverty  of  my  establish- 
ment  " 

**  If  I  succeed  in  directing  the  election  at  Arcis  in  accord- 
ance with  the  wishes  of  those  who  have  sent  me  here,  you,  my 

good  friend,  will  be  made  a  prefect.    Read  these "  and  he 

held  out  two  other  letters. 

"Very  good,  Monsieur  le  Comte,"  said  Goulard,  as  he  re- 
turned them. 

"  Make  out  a  list  of  all  the  votes  at  the  disposal  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. Above  all,  we  must  not  appear  to  have  any  mutual 
understanding.  I  am  merely  a  speculator,  and  do  not  care  a 
fig  about  the  election." 

"  I  will  send  the  police  superintendent  to  compel  you  to 
write  your  name  on  Poupart's  register." 

"  Yes,  that  is  very  good.  Good-morning,  monsieur.  What 
a  land  we  live  in  !  "  he  went  on  in  a  loud  tone.  "It  is  im- 
possible to  stir  a  step  without  having  the  whole  posse  at  your 
heels — even  the  sub-prefect." 

"You  will  have  to  settle  that  with  the  head  of  the  police," 
replied  Antonin  emphatically. 

And  twenty  minutes  later  there  was  a  great  talk  at  Madame 
Mollot's  of  high  words  between  the  sub-prefect  and  the 
Stranger. 

"  Well,  and  what  wood  is  the  log  made  of  that  has  dropped 
into  our  pool  ?  "  asked  Olivier  Vinet  of  Goulard,  as  he  came 
away  from  the  inn. 

"  A  certain  Comte  Maxime,  come  to  study  the  geology  of 


94  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

the  district  in  the  hope  of  finding  mineral  sources,"  said 
Goulard  indifferently. 

"^<r-sources  you  should  say,"  replied  Olivier. 

"Does  he  fancy  he  can  raise  any  capital  in  these  parts?" 
asked  Monsieur  Martener. 

"  I  doubt  our  royalist  people  seeing  anything  in  that  form 
of  mining,"  said  Vinet,  smiling. 

"What  do  you  expect,  judging  from  Madame  Marion's 
looks  and  movements?"  said  Antonin,  changing  the  con- 
versation by  pointing  out  Simon  and  his  aunt  in  eager  con- 
ference. 

Simon  had  gone  forward  to  meet  Madame  Marion,  and 
stood  talking  in  the  square. 

"Well,  if  he  were  accepted,  a  word  would  be  enough  to 
tell  him  so,  I  should  think,"  observed  Vinet. 

"Well?"  asked  the  two  men  at  once  as  Simon  came  up 
the  lime-walk. 

"  My  aunt  has  hopes.  Madame  Beauvisage  and  old  Gr6vin, 
who  was  starting  for  Gondreville,  were  not  surprised  at  our 
proposal ;  our  respective  fortunes  were  discussed.  Cecile  is 
absolutely  free  to  make  her  own  choice.  Finally,  Madame 
Beauvisage  said  that  for  her  part  she  saw  no  objection  to  a 
connection  which  did  her  honor,  though,  at  the  same  time, 
she  must  make  her  consent  depend  on  my  election,  and  pos- 
sibly on  my  appearing  in  the  Chamber  ;  and  old  Grevin  said 
he  must  consult  the  Comte  de  Gondreville,  as  he  never  came 
to  any  important  decision  without  consulting  him  and  taking 
his  advice." 

"  So  you  will  not  marry  Cecile,  old  boy,"  said  Goulard 
bluntly. 

"  And  why  not  ?  "  said  Giguet  ironically. 

"  My  dear  fellow,  Madame  Beauvisage  and  her  daughter 
spend  four  evenings  a  week  in  your  aunt's  drawing-room ; 
Madame  Marion  is  the  most  thorough  fine  lady  in  Arcis. 
Though  she  is  twenty  years  the  elder,  she  is  the  object  of 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  95 

Madame  Beauvisage's  envy ;  and  do  you  suppose  they  could 
refuse  you  point-blank  without  some  little  civility?" 

"  Neither  Yes  nor  No  is  NO,"  Vinet  went  on,  "  in  view  of 
the  extreme  intimacy  of  your  two  families.  If  Madame  Beau- 
visage  is  the  woman  of  fortune,  Madame  Marion  is  the  most 
looked  up  to  ;  for,  ^ith  the  exception  of  the  presiding  judge's 
wife — who  sees  no  one — she  is  the  only  woman  who  can  en- 
tertain at  all ;  she  is  the  queen  of  Arcis.  Madame  Beauvisage 
wishes  to  refuse  politely — that  is  all." 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  old  Grevin  was  making  a  fool  of  your 
aunt,  my  dear  boy,"  said  Frederic  Marest.  "Yesterday  you 
attacked  the  Comte  de  Gondreville;  you  hurt  him,  you  of- 
fended him  deeply — for  Achille  Pigoult  defended  him  bravely 
— and  now  he  is  to  be  consulted  as  to  your  marrying  Cecile  !  " 

**  No  one  can  be  craftier  than  old  Grevin,"  said  Vinet. 

"Madame  Beauvisage  is  ambitious,"  Goulard  went  on, 
"  and  knows  that  her  daughter  will  have  two  millions  of 
francs.  She  means  to  be  the  mother-in-law  of  a  minister  or 
of  an  ambassador,  so  as  to  lord  it  in  Paris." 

"Well,  and  why  not  that?"  said  Simon  Giguet. 

"I  wish  you  may  get  it!  "  replied  Goulard,  looking  at 
Vinet,  and  they  laughed  as  they  went  on  their  way.  "  He 
will  not  even  be  elected!  "  he  went  on  to  Olivier.  "The 
Government  has  schemes  of  its  own.  You  will  find  a  letter 
at  home  from  your  father,  desiring  you  to  secure  every  one  in 
your  connection  who  ought  to  vote  for  their  masters.  Your 
promotion  depends  upon  it,  and  you  are  to  keep  your  own 
counsel." 

"And  who  is  the  man  for  whom  they  are  to  vote — ushers, 
attorneys,  justice  of  the  peace,  and  notaries?"  asked  Vinet. 

"  The  man  I  will  tell  you  to  vote  for." 

"  But  how  do  you  know  that  my  father  has  written  to  me, 
and  what  he  has  written?" 

"From  the  Unknown." 

"  The  man  of  mines  ?  " 


96  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  AKCIS. 

"  My  dear  Vinet,  we  are  not  to  know  him  ;  we  must  treat 
him  as  a  stranger.  He  saw  your  father  as  he  came  through 
Provins.  Just  now  this  individual  showed  me  a  letter  from 
the  chief  prefect  instructing  me  to  act  in  the  matter  of  the 
elections  as  I  shall  be  directed  by  this  Comte  Maxime.  I 
should  not  get  off  without  having  to  fight  a  battle,  that  I 
knew  !  Let  us  dine  together  and  plan  our  batteries :  You 
want  to  be  public  prosecutor  at  Mantes,  and  I  to  be  prefect, 
and  we  must  not  appear  to  meddle  in  the  elections,  for  we  are 
between  the  hammer  and  anvil.  Simon  is  the  candidate  put 
forward  by  the  party  who  want  to  upset  the  present  ministry, 
and  who  may  succeed.  But  for  clear-sighted  men  like  us 
there  is  but  one  thing  to  do." 

"And  that  is?" 

"To  obey  those  who  make  and  unmake  ministries.  The 
letter  that  was  shown  to  me  was  from  a  man  in  the  secrets  of 
the  immutable  idea." 

Before  going  any  further,  it  will  be  necessary  to  explain 
who  this  "miner  "  was,  and  what  he  hoped  to  extract  out  of 
the  province  of  Champagne. 

About  two  months  before  Simon  Giguet's  day  of  triumph 
as  a  candidate,  at  eleven  o'clock  one  evening,  just  as  tea  was 
being  served  in  the  Marquise  d'Espard's  drawing-room  in  the 
Rue  du  Faubourg  Saint-Honore,  the  Chevalier  d'Espard,  her 
brother-in-law,  as  he  set  his  cup  down  on  the  chimney-shelf 
and  looked  at  the  circle  round  the  fire,  observed : 

"  Maxime  was  very  much  out  of  spirits  this  evening — did 
not  you  think  so  ?" 

"Well,"  replied  Rastignac,  "his  depression  is  very  natural. 
He  is  eight-and-forty ;  at  that  age  a  man  does  not  make  friends ; 
and  when  we  buried  de  Marsay,  Maxime  lost  the  only  one  who 
could  thoroughly  understand  him,  who  could  be  of  use  to  him, 
or  make  use  of  him." 

"And  he  probably  has  some  pressing  debts.     Could  not 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  97 

you  put  him  in  the  way  of  paying  them  off?"  said  the  mar- 
quise to  Rastignac. 

Rastignac  at  this  juncture  was  in  office  for  the  second  time  ; 
he  had  just  been  created  count,  almost  in  spite  of  himself; 
his  father-in-law,  the  Baron  de  Nucingen,  had  been  made  a 
peer  of  France ;  his  brother  was  a  bishop ;  the  Comte  de  la 
Roche-Hugon,  his  brother-in-law,  was  ambassador;  and  he 
was  supposed  to  be  an  indispensable  element  in  the  composi- 
tion of  any  future  ministry. 

"  You  always  forget,  my  dear  marquise,"  replied  Rastignac, 
"that  our  Government  changes  its  silver  for  nothing  but 
gold;  it  takes  no  account  of  men." 

"Is  Maxime  a  man  to  blow  his  brains  out?"  asked  du 
Tillet  the  banker. 

"You  only  wish  he  were  !  Then  we  should  be  quits,"  re- 
plied Maxime  de  Trailles,  who  was  supposed  by  all  to  have 
left  the  house. 

And  the  count  rose  like  an  apparition  from  the  depths  of  a 
low  chair  behind  that  of  the  Chevalier  d'Espard. 

Everybody  laughed. 

"Will  you  have  a  cup  of  tea?"  asked  young  Madame  de 
Rastignac,  whom  the  marquise  had  begged  to  do  the  honors 
of  the  tea-table. 

"With  pleasure,"  said  the  count,  coming  to  stand  in  front 
of  the  fire. 

This  man,  the  prince  of  the  rakes  of  Paris,  had,  till  now, 
maintained  the  position  of  superiority  assumed  by  dandies — 
in  those  days  known  in  Paris  as  gants  jaunes  (Jemon-kids), 
and  since  then  as  "lions."  It  is  needless  to  tell  the  story  of  his 
youth,  full  of  disreputable  adventures  and  terrible  dramas,  in 
which  he  had  always  managed  to  observe  the  proprieties.  To 
this  man  women  were  but  means  to  an  end  ;  he  had  no  belief 
in  their  sufferings  or  their  enjoyment ;  like  the  deceased  de 
Marsay,  he  regarded  them  as  naughty  children. 

After  running  through  his  own  fortune,  he  had  devoured 
7 


98  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

that  of  a  famous  courtesan  known  as  the  Handsome  Dutch- 
woman, tlie  mother  of  the  no  less  famous  Esther  Gobseck. 
Then  he  brought  trouble  on  Madame  de  Restaud,  Madame 
Delphine  de  Nucingen's  sister ;  the  young  countess,  Rastig- 
nac's  wife,  was  Madame  de  Nucingen's  daughter, 

Paris  society  is  full  of  inconceivable  anomalies.  The  Ba- 
ronne  de  Nucingen  was  at  this  moment  in  Madame  d'Espard's 
drawing-room,  face  to  face  with  the  author  of  all  her  sister's 
misery — an  assassin  who  had  enly  murdered  a  woman's  happi- 
ness.    That,  no  doubt,  was  why  he  was  there. 

Madame  de  Nucingen  had  dined  with  the  marquise,  and 
her  daughter  with  her.  Augusta  de  Nucingen  had  been 
married  for  about  a  year  to  the  Comte  de  Rastignac,  who  had 
started  on  his  political  career  by  holding  the  post  of  under- 
secretary of  State  in  the  ministry  formed  by  the  famous  de 
Marsay,  the  only  great  statesman  brought  to  the  front  by  the 
Revolution  of  July.  Count  Maxime  de  Trailles  alone  knew 
how  much  disaster  he  had  occasioned ;  but  he  had  always 
sheltered  himself  from  blame  by  obeying  the  code  of  manly 
honor.  Though  he  had  squandered  more  money  in  his  life 
than  the  felons  in  the  four  penal  establishments  of  France 
had  stolen  in  the  same  time,  justice  treated  him  with  respect. 
He  had  never  failed  in  any  question  of  technical  honor  ;  he 
paid  his  gambling  debts  with  scrupulous  punctuality.  He  was 
a  capital  player,  and  the  partner  of  the  greatest  personages 
and  ambassadors.  He  dined  with  all  the  members  of  the 
corps  diplomatic.  He  would  fight ;  he  had  killed  two  or 
three  men  in  his  time — nay,  he  had  murdered  them,  for  his 
skill  and  coolness  were  matchless. 

There  was  not  a  young  man  in  Paris  to  compare  with  him 
in  dress,  in  grace  of  manner,  in  pleasant  wit,  in  ease  and 
readiness,  in  what  used  to  be  called  the  "grand  air."  As 
page  to  the  Emperor,  trained  from  the  age  of  twelve  in  horse 
exercise  of  every  kind,  he  was  a  noted  rider.  He  had  always 
five  horses  in  his  stables,  he  kept  racers,  he  set  the  fashion. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  99 

Finally,  no  man  was  more  successful  than  he  in  giving  a 
supper  to  younger  men  ;  he  would  drink  with  the  stoutest, 
and  come  out  fresh  and  cool,  ready  to  begin  again,  as  if 
orgies  were  his  element. 

Maxime,  one  of  the  men  whom  everybody  despises,  but 
who  control  that  contetftpt  by  the  insolence  of  audacity  and 
the  fear  they  inspire,  never  deceived  himself  as  to  his  posi- 
tion. This  was  where  his  strength  lay.  Strong  men  can 
always  criticise  themselves. 

At  the  time  of  the  Restoration  he  had  turned  his  employ- 
ment as  page  to  the  Emperor  to  good  account.  He  attrib- 
uted his  supposed  Bonapartist  proclivities  to  the  repulses  he 
had  met  with  from  a  succession  of  ministers  when  he  had 
wanted  to  serve  under  the  Bourbons  ;  for,  in  fact,  notwith- 
standing his  connections,  his  good  birth,  and  his  dangerous 
cleverness,  he  had  never  succeeded  in  getting  an  appointment. 
Then  he  had  joined  the  underground  conspiracy,  which  ended 
in  the  fall  of  the  elder  branch  of  the  Bourbons.  When  the 
younger  branch,  at  the  heels  of  the  Paris  populace,  had 
trampled  down  the  senior  branch  and  established  itself  on  the 
throne,  Maxime  made  the  most  of  his  attachment  to  Napo- 
leon, for  whom  he  cared  no  more  than  for  the  object  of  his 
first  flirtation.  He  then  did  good  service,  for  which  it  was 
difficult  to  make  a  return,  as  he  wanted  to  be  repaid  too  often 
by  people  who  knew  how  to  keep  accounts.  At  the  first  re- 
fusal Maxime  assumed  a  hostile  attitude,  threatening  to  reveal 
certain  not  very  creditable  details ;  for  a  dynasty  first  set  up 
has,  like  infants,  dirty  linen  to  hide. 

De  Marsay,  in  the  course  of  his  career,  made  up  for  the 
blunders  of  those  who  had  undervalued  the  usefulness  of  this 
person  ;  he  employed  him  on  such  secret  errands  as  need  a 
conscience  hardened  by  the  hammer  of  necessity ;  an  address 
which  is  equal  to  any  mode  of  action,  impudence,  and,  above 
all,  the  coolness,  presence  of  mind,  and  swift  apprehension  of 
affairs,  which  are  combined  to  make  a  bravo  of  scheming  and 


100  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

superior  policy.  Such  an  instrument  is  at  once  rare  and  in- 
dispensable. De  Marsay  intentionally  secured  to  Maxime  de 
Trailles  a  firm  footing  in  the  highest  social  circles ;  he  repre- 
sented him  as  being  a  man  matured  by  passion,  taught  by  ex- 
perience, knowing  men  and  things,  to  whom  traveling  and  a 
faculty  of  observation  had  given  great  knowledge  of  European 
interests,  of  foreign  cabinets,  and  of  the  connections  of  all 
the  great  continental  families.  De  Marsay  impressed  on 
Maxime  the  necessity  for  doing  himself  credit ;  he  explained 
to  him  that  discretion  was  not  so  much  a  virtue  as  a  good 
speculation  ;  he  proved  to  him  that  power  never  evades  the 
touch  of  a  strong  and  trustworthy  tool,  at  the  same  time 
elegant  and  polished. 

*'  In  political  life  you  can  only  squeeze  a  man  once,"  said 
he,  blaming  him  for  having  uttered  a  threat. 

And  Maxime  was  the  man  to  understand  all  the  significance 
of  the  axiom. 

At  de  Marsay's  death,  Comte  Maxime  de  Trailles  fell  back 
into  his  old  life.  He  went  every  year  to  gamble  at  watering- 
places,  and  returned  to  spend  the  winter  in  Paris ;  but,  al- 
though he  received  from  time  to  time  some  considerable  sums 
dug  out  of  the  depths  of  very  tight-locked  chests,  this  sort  of 
half-pay  due  to  a  man  of  spirit,  who  might  at  any  moment  be 
made  use  of,  and  who  was  in  the  confidence  of  many  mysteries 
of  antagonistic  diplomatists,  was  insufficient  for  the  extrava- 
gant ^splendor  of  a  life  like  that  of  this  king  of  the  dandies, 
the  tyrant  of  four  or  five  Paris  clubs.  Hence  the  count  had 
many  hours  of  uneasiness  over  the  financial  question. 

Having  no  estates  or  investments,  he  had  never  been  able 
to  strengthen  his  position  by  being  elected  deputy ;  and  hav- 
ing no  ostensible  duties,  it  was  out  of  his  power  to  hold  the 
knife  to  a  great  man's  throat,  and  get  himself  made  a  peer  of 
France.  And  time  was  gaining  on  him ;  dissipation  of  all 
kinds  had  damaged  his  health  and  person.  In  spite  of  a 
handsome  appearance,  he  knew  it ;  he  did  not  deceive  him- 


THE   DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  101 

self.  He  determined  to  settle,  to  marry.  He  was  too  clever 
a  man  to  overestimate  the  true  value  of  his  position  ;  it  was, 
he  knew,  an  illusion.  So  he  could  not  find  a  wife  in  the 
highest  Paris  society,  nor  in  the  middle  class.  He  required  a 
vast  amount  of  spite,  with  apparent  sincerity  and  real  service 
done,  to  make  himseT£- acceptable;  for  every  one  hoped  for 
his  fall,  and  a  vein  of  ill-luck  might  be  his  ruin. 

If  once  he  should  find  himself  in  prison,  at  Clichy  or 
abroad,  as  a  result  of  some  bill  of  exchange  that  he  failed 
to  negotiate,  he  would  drop  into  the  gulf  where  so  many 
political  dead  men  are  to  be  seen  who  do  not'  comfort  each 
other.  At  this  very  hour  he  was  dreading  the  falling  stones 
from  some  portions  of  the  awful  vault  which  debts  build  up 
over  many  a  Parisian  head.  He  had  allowed  his  anxiety  to 
be  seen  in  his  face ;  he  had  refused  to  play  here  at  Madame 
d'Espard's;  he  had  been  absent-minded  while  talking  to 
ladies ;  and  he  had  ended  by  sitting  mute  and  absorbed  in 
the  armchair  from  which  he  now  rose  like  Banquo's  ghost, 

Comte  Maxime  de  Trailies,  standing  in  the  middle  of  the 
fire-front,  under  the  cross-lights  of  two  large  candelabra,  found 
himself  the  centre  of  direct  or  indirect  observation.  The  few 
words  that  had  been  said  required  him  to  assume  an  attitude 
of  defiance ;  and  he  stood  there  like  a  man  of  spirit,  but  with- 
out arrogance,  determined  to  show  himself  superior  to  sus- 
picion, A  painter  could  not  have  had  a  more  favorable 
moment  for  sketching  this  really  remarkable  man. 

For  must  not  a  man  have  extraordinary  gifts  to  play  such  a 
part  as  his,  to  have  fascinated  women  for  thirty  years,  to  have 
commanded  himself  to  use  his  talents  only  in  a  secret  sphere 
— exciting  a  people  to  rebel,  discovering  the  mysteries  of  the 
astutest  politicians,  and  triumphing  only  in  ladies'  boudoirs 
or  men's  private  rooms?  Is  there  not  something  grand  in 
being  able  to  rise  to  the  highest  schemes  of  political  life,  and 
then  calmly  drop  back  into  the  insignificance  of  a  frivolous 
existence  ?     A  man  must  be  of  iron  who  can  live  through  the 


102  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

alternations  of  the  gaming  table  and  the  sudden  journeys  of  a 
political  agent,  who  can  keep  up  the  war-footing  of  elegance 
and  fashion  and  the  expenses  of  necessary  civilities  to  the  fair 
sex,  whose  memory  is  a  perfect  library  of  craft  and  falsehood, 
who  can  hide  so  many  and  such  different  ideas,  and  so  many 
tricks  of  craft,  under  such  impenetrable  suavity  of  manner. 
If  the  breeze  of  favor  had  blown  steadily  on  those  overspread 
sails,  if  the  course  of  events  had  served  Maxime  better,  he 
might  have  been  a  Mazarin,  a  Marechal  de  Richelieu,  a 
Potemkin* — or  perhaps,  more  exactly,  a  Lauzun,  minus  Pig- 
nerol. 

The  count,  a  fairly  tall  man,  and  not  inclining  to  be  fat, 
had  a  certain  amount  of  stomach ;  but  he  suppressed  it  majes- 
tically— to  use  Brillat-Savarin's  words.  His  clothes,  too,  were 
so  well  made  that  his  figure  preserved  a  youthful  aspect,  and 
there  was  something  light  and  easy  in  his  movements,  which 
was  due,  no  doubt,  to  constant  exercise,  to  the  habit  of  fencing, 
riding,  and  shooting.  Maxime  had,  in  fact,  all  the  physical 
grace  and  distinction  of  an  aristocrat,  enhanced  by  his  ad- 
mirable "get-up."  His  face  was  long,  of  the  Bourbon  type, 
framed  in  whiskers  and  a  beard  under  his  chin,  carefully  cut 
and  curled,  and  as  black  as  jet.  This  hue,  matching  that  of 
his  thick  hair,  was  preserved  by  the  use  of  an  Indian  cosmetic, 
very  expensive,  and  known  only  in  Persia,  of  which  Maxime 
kept  the  secret.  He  thus  cheated  the  keenest  eye  as  to  the 
white  hairs  which  had  long  since  streaked  the  natural  black. 
The  peculiarity  of  this  dye,  used  by  the  Persians  for  thin 
beards,  is  that  it  does  not  make  the  features  look  hard  ;  it  can 
be  softened  by  an  admixture  of  indigo,  and  harmonizes  with 
the  color  of  the  skin.  This,  no  doubt,  was  the  operation  seen 
by  Madame  Mollot ;  but  it  remains  to  this  day  a  standing  joke 
at  Arcis  to  wonder  now  and  again,  at  the  evening  meetings, 
"what  Madame  Mollot  did  see." 

Maxime  had  a  fine  forehead,  blue  eyes,  a  Grecian  nose,  a 
*  A  noted  Russian  Minister  of  State;  born  1739,  died  179I. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR   ARCJS.  103 

pleasant  mouth,  and  well-shaped  chin ;  but  all  round  his  eyes 
were  a  myriad  wrinkles,  as  fine  as  if  they  had  been  marked 
with  a  razor — invisible,  in  fact,  at  a  little  distance.  There 
were  similar  lines  on  his  temples,  and  all  his  face  was  a  good 
deal  wrinkled.  His  eyes,  like  those  of  gamblers  who  have  sat 
up  night  after  night,*" jvere  covered  with  a  sort  of  glaze;  but 
their  look,  if  dimmed,  was  only  the  more  terrible — nay,  terri- 
fying. It  so  evidently  covered  a  brooding  fire,  the  lavas  of 
half-extinguished  passions.  The  mouth,  too,  once  fresh  and 
scarlet,  had  a  cold  shade,  and  it  was  not  quite  straight ;  the 
right-hand  corner  drooped  a  little.  This  sinuous  line  seemed 
to  hint  at  falsehood.  Vice  had  disfigured  the  smile,  but  his 
teeth  were  still  sound  and  white. 

These  blemishes,  too,  were  overlooked  in  the  general  effect 
of  his  face  and  figure.  His  grace  was  still  so  attractive  that 
no  younger  man  could  compare  with  Maxime  on  horseback  in 
the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  where  he  appeared  more  youthful  and 
graceful  than  the  youngest  and  most  elegant  of  them  all. 
This  privilege  of  eternal  youth  has  been  seen  in  some  men  of 
our  day. 

De  Trailles  was  all  the  more  dangerous  because  he  seemed 
yielding  and  indolent,  and  never  betrayed  his  obstinate  fore- 
gone conclusions  on  every  subject.  This  charming  indiffer- 
ence, which  enabled  him  to  back  up  a  seditious  mob  with  as 
much  skill  as  he  could  have  brought  to  bear  on  a  Court  in- 
trigue to  strengthen  the  position  of  a  King,  had  a  certain 
charm.  No  one,  especially  in  France,  ever  distrusts  what 
seems  calm  and  homogeneous;  we  are  accustomed  to  so  much 
stir  about  trifles. 

The  count,  dressed  in  the  fashion  of  1839,  had  on  a  black 
coat,  a  dark  blue  cashmere  vest  embroidered  with  light  blue 
sprigs,  black  trousers,  gray  silk  socks,  and  patent-leather  shoes. 
His  watch,  in  his  vest  pocket,  was  secured  through  a  button- 
hole by  a  neat  gold  chain. 

**  Rastignac,"  said  he,  as  he  accepted  the  cup  of  tea  held 


104  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

out  to  him  by  the  pretty  countess,  '*  will  you  come  with  me 
to  the  Austrian  embassy  ?  ' ' 

**  My  dear  fellow,  I  am  too  recently  married  not  to  go  home 
with  my  wife." 

"Which    means   that    by-and-by ?"  said   the   young 

countess,  looking  round  at  her  husband. 

"  By-and-by  is  the  end  of  the  world,"  replied  Maxime. 
"  But  if  you  make  madame  the  judge,  that  will  win  the  case 
for  me,  I  think?" 

Count  Maxime,  with  a  graceful  gesture,  drew  the  pretty 
countess  to  his  side ;  she  listened  to  a  few  words  he  said,  and 
then  remarked:  "If  you  like  to  go  to  the  embassy  with 
Monsieur  de  Trailles,  my  mother  will  take  me  home." 

A  few  minutes  later  the  Baronne  de  Nucingen  and  the 
Countess  de  Rastignac  went  away  together.  Maxime  and 
Rastignac  soon  followed ;  and  when  they  were  sitting  together 
in  the  carriage — 

"  What  do  you  want  of  me,  Maxime?  "  asked  the  husband. 
"  What  is  the  hurry,  that  you  take  me  by  the  throat?  And 
what  did  you  say  to  my  wife? " 

"That  I  wanted  to  speak  to  you,"  replied  Monsieur  de 
Trailles.  "You  are  a  lucky  dog,  you  are !  You  have  ended 
by  marrying  the  sole  heiress  of  the  Nucingen  millions — but 
you  have  worked  for  it.  Twenty  years  of  penal  servitude 
like " 

"Maxime!" 

"While  I  find  myself  looked  at  askance  by  everybody," 
he  went  on,  without  heeding  the  interruption.  "A  wretched 
creature — a  du  Tillet — asks  if  I  have  courage  enough  to  kill 
myself!  It  is  time  to  see  where  we  stand.  Do  they  want  me 
out  of  the  way,  or  do  they  not  ?  You  can  find  out — you  must 
find  out,"  said  Maxime,  silencing  Rastignac  by  a  gesture. 
"  This  is  my  plan  ;  listen  to  it.  You  ought  to  do  me  a  ser- 
vice— I  have  served  you,  and  can  serve  you  again.  The  life 
I  am  leading  bores  me,  and  I  want  a  pension.     Help  me  to 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  105 

conclude  a  marriage  which  will  secure  me  half  a  million ; 
once  married,  get  me  sent  as  minister  to  some  wretched 
American  republic.  I  will  stay  there  long  enough  to  justify 
my  appointment  to  a  similar  post  in  Germany.  If  I  am  good 
for  anything,  I  shall  be  promoted  ;  if  I  am  good  for  nothing, 
I  shall  be  cashier?"4-.  I  may  have  a  son  3  I  will  bring  him 
up  strictly ;  his  mother  will  be  rich  ;  I  will  train  him  up  to 
diplomacy ;  he  may  become  an  ambassador  !  " 

"And  this  is  my  answer,"  said  Rastignac.  "  There  is  a 
harder  struggle  to  be  fought  out  than  the  outside  world 
imagines  between  a  power  in  swaddling  clothes  and  a  child  in 
power.  The  power  in  swaddling  clothes  is  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  which,  not  being  restrained  by  a  hereditary  Chamber, 
may " 

*'  Aha  !  "  said  Maxime,  **  you  are  a  peer  of  France  !  " 

"  And  shall  I  not  remain  so  under  any  government  ?  "  said 
the  newly  made  peer.  "  But  do  not  interrupt,  you  are  in- 
terested in  all  this  muddle.  The  Chamber  of  Deputies  will 
inevitably  be  the  whole  of  the  Government,  as  de  Marsay 
used  to  tell  us — the  only  man  who  might  have  rescued  France  ; 
for  a  nation  does  not  die;  it  is  a  slave  or  free,  that  is  all. 
The  child  in  power  is  the  dynasty  crowned  in  the  month  of 
August,  1830. 

"  The  present  ministry  is  beaten ;  it  has  dissolved  the 
Chamber,  and  will  call  a  general  election  to  prevent  the  next 
ministry  from  having  the  chance;  but  it  has  no  hope  of  a  vic- 
tory. If  it  should  be  victorious  in  the  elections,  the  dynasty 
would  be  in  danger ;  whereas,  if  the  ministry  is  turned  out, 
the  dynastic  party  may  struggle  on  and  hold  its  own  for  some 
time  yet.  The  blunders  of  the  Chamber  will  turn  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  a  Will,  which,  unfortunately,  is  the  mainspring  of 
politics.  When  one  man  is  all  in  all,  as  Napoleon  was,  the 
moment  comes  when  he  must  have  representatives  ;  and  as 
superior  men  are  rejected,  the  great  Head  is  not  represented. 
The  representative  is  called  the  Cabinet,  and  in  France  there 


106  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

is  no  Cabinet — only  a  Will  for  life.  In  France  only  those 
who  govern  can  blunder;  the  Opposition  can  never  blunder; 
it  may  lose  every  battle  and  be  none  the  vk^orse;  it  is 
enough  if,  like  the  Allies  in  1814,  it  wins  but  one  victory. 
With  '  three  glorious  days '  it  could  destroy  everything. 
Hence  not  to  govern,  but  to  sit  and  wait,  is  to  be  the 
next  heir  to  power.  Now,  my  personal  feelings  are  on  the 
side  of  the  aristocracy,  my  public  opinions  on  that  of  the 
dynasty  of  July.  The  House  of  Orleans  has  helped  me  to 
reinstate  the  fortunes  of  my  family,  and  I  am  attached  to  it 
for  ever." 

"The  for  ever  of  Monsieur  de  Talleyrand,  of  course,"  de 
Trailles  put  in. 

"So  at  the  present  moment  I  can  do  nothing  for  you," 
Rastignac  went  on,  "  We  shall  not  be  in  power  these  six 
months.  Yes,  for  those  six  months,  we  shall  be  dying  by 
inches :  I  have  always  known  it.  We  knew  our  fate  from  the 
first ;  we  were  but  a  stop-gap  ministry.  But  if  you  distinguish 
yourself  in  the  thick  of  the  electoral  fray  that  is  beginning, 
if  you  become  a  vote — a  member — faithful  to  the  reigning 
dynasty,  your  wishes  shall  be  attended  to.  I  can  say  a  great 
deal  about  your  zeal,  I  can  poke  my  nose  into  every  secret 
document,  every  private  and  confidential  letter,  and  find 
you  some  tough  place  to  work  up.  If  you  succeed,  I  can 
urge  your  claims — your  skill  and  devotion — and  demand  the 
reward. 

"As  to  your  marriage,  my  dear  fellow,  that  can  only  be 
arranged  in  the  country  with  some  family  of  ambitious  manu- 
facturers. In  Paris  you  are  too  well  known.  The  thing  to 
find  is  a  millionaire,  a  parvenu,  with  a  daughter,  and  possessed 
with  the  ambition  to  swagger  at  the  Tuileries."        '^ 

"  Well ;  but  get  your  father-in-law  to  lend  me  twenty-five 
thousand  francs  to  carry  me  over  meanwhile ;  then  he  will  be 
interested  in  my  not  being  dismissed  with  empty  promises, 
and  will  promote  my  marriage." 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  107 

"You  are  wide-awake,  Maxime,  and  you  do  not  trust  me, 
but  I  like  a  clever  fellow ;  I  will  arrange  that  little  business  for 
you." 

The  carriage  stopped. 

The  Comte  de  Rastignac  saw  the  minister  of  the  Interior  in 
the  embassy  drawing-room,  and  drew  him  into  a  corner.  The 
Comte  de  Trailles  was  apparently  devoting  himself  to  the  old 
Comtesse  de  Listomdre,  but  in  reality  he  was  watching  the 
two  men ;  he  marked  their  gestures,  interpreted  their  glances, 
and  at  last  caught  a  friendly  look  toward  himself  from  the 
minister's  eye. 

Maxime  and  Rastignac  went  away  together  at  one  in  the 
morning,  and  before  they  each  got  into  his  own  carriage,  Ras- 
tignac said  on  the  stairs — 

**  Come  to  see  me  when  the  elections  are  coming  on.  Be- 
tween this  and  then  I  shall  find  out  where  the  Opposition  is 
likely  to  be  strongest,  and  what  remedy  may  be  devised  by 
two  such  minds  as  ours." 

"  I  am  in  a  hurry  for  those  twenty-five  thousand  francs  !  " 
replied  de  Trailles. 

"  Well,  keep  out  of  sight." 

About  seven  weeks  later,  one  morning  before  it  was  light, 
the  Comte  de  Trailles  drove  mysteriously  in  a  hackney-coach 
to  the  Rue  de  Varenne.  He  dismissed  the  coach  on  arriving 
at  the  door  of  the  minister  of  Public  Works,  looked  to  see  that 
he  was  not  watched,  and  then  waited  in  a  small  room  on  the 
first  floor  till  Rastignac  should  be  up.  In  a  few  minutes  the 
manservant,  who  had  carried  in  Maxime's  card,  showed  him 
into  his  master's  room,  where  the  great  man  was  finishing  his 
toilet. 

"My  dear  fellow,"  said  the  minister,  "I  can  tell  you  a 
secret  which  will  be  published  in  the  newspapers  within  two 
days,  and  which  you  can  turn  to  good  account.  That  poor 
Charles  Keller,  who  danced  the  mazurka  so  well,  has  been 
killed  in  Africa,  and  he  was  our  candidate  for  the  borough 


108  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

and  district  of  Arcis.  His  death  leaves  a  gap.  Here  are 
copies  of  the  two  reports — one  from  the  sub-prefect,  the  other 
from  the  police  commissioner — informing  the  ministry  that 
there  were  difficulties  in  the  way  of  our  poor  friend's  election. 
In  the  police  commissioner's  letter  you  will  find  some  informa- 
tion as  to  the  state  of  the  town  which  will  be  sufficient  to 
guide  a  man  of  your  ability,  for  the  ambition  of  poor  Charles 
Keller's  opponent  is  founded  on  his  wish  to  marry  an  heiress. 
To  a  man  like  you  this  is  hint  enough.  The  Cinq-Cygnes, 
the  Princesse  de  Cadignan,  and  Georges  de  Maufrigneuse  are 
within  a  stone's  throw  of  Arcis  ;  you  could  at  need  secure  the 
legitimist  votes.     So " 

"  Do  not  wear  your  tongue  out,"  said  Maxime.  **  Is  the 
police  commissioner  still  at  Arcis  ?  " 

"Yes." 

**  Give  me  a  line  to  him." 

"  My  dear  fellow,"  said  Rastignac,  giving  Maxime  a  packet 
of  papers,  **  you  will  find  there  two  letters  written  to  Gondre- 
ville  to  introduce  you.  You  have  been  a  page,  he  was  a 
senator — you  will  understand  each  other.  Madame  Francois 
Keller  is  addicted  to  piety ;  here  is  a  letter  to  her  from  the 
Marechale  de  Carigliano.  The  marechale  is  now  Oileanist ; 
she  recommends  you  warmly,  and  will,  in  fact,  be  going  to 
Arcis.  I  have  only  one  word  to  add :  Be  on  your  guard 
against  the  sub-prefect ;  I  believe  him  to  be  very  capable  of 
taking  up  this  Simon  Giguet  as  an  advocate  with  the  ex- 
president  of  the  council.  If  you  need  more  letters,  powers, 
introductions — write  me." 

"And  the  twenty-five  thousand  francs?"  asked  Maxime. 

*'  Sign  this  bill  on  du  Tillet ;  here  is  the  money." 

"I  shall  succeed,"  said  the  count,  "and  yov  can  promise 
the  authorities  that  tlie  Deputy  for  Arcis  will  be  theirs,  body 
and  soul.     If  I  fail,  pitch  me  overboard  !  " 

And  within  an  hour  Maxime  de  Trailles,  driving  his  tilbury, 
was  on  the  road  to  Arcis. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  109 

As  soon  as  he  was  furnished  with  the  information  supplied 
by  the  landlady  of  the  Mulct  and  Antonin  Goulard,  Monsieur 
de  Trailles  lost  no  time  in  arranging  the  plan  of  his  electoral 
campaign — a  plan  so  obvious  that  the  reader  will  have  divined 
it  at  once.  This  shrewd  agent  for  his  own  private  politics  at 
once  set  up  PhileaS^iis  the  candidate  in  opposition  to  Simon 
Giguet ;  and,  notwithstanding  that  the  man  was  an  unlikely 
cipher,  the  idea,  it  must  be  admitted,  had  strong  chances  in 
its  favor.  Beauvisage,  as  wearing  the  halo  of  municipal 
authority,  had,  with  the  great  mass  of  indifferent  voters,  the 
advantage  of  being  known  by  reputation.  Logic  rules  the 
development  of  affairs  here  below  more  than  might  be  sup- 
posed— it  is  like  a  wife  to  whom,  after  every  infidelity,  a  man 
is  sure  to  return. 

Plain  sense  demands  that  the  electors  called  upon  to  choose 
a  representative  of  their  common  interests  should  always  be 
amply  informed  as  to  his  fitness,  his  honesty,  and  his  char- 
acter. In  practice,  no  doubt,  this  theory  is  often  considerably 
strained  ;  but  whenever  the  electoral  flock  is  left  to  folloikr  its 
instincts,  and  can  believe  that  it  is  voting  in  obedience  to  its 
own  lights  and  intelligence,  it  may  be  trusted  to  throw  zeal 
and  conscious  pride  into  its  decisions  ;  hence,  while  knowing 
their  man  is  half  the  battle  in  the  electoral  sense,  to  know  his 
name  is,  at  any  rate,  a  good  beginning. 

Among  lukewarm  voters,  beginning  with  the  most  fervent, 
Phil^as  was  certain,  in  the  first  instance,  to  secure  the  Gondre- 
ville  party.  Any  candidate  would  be  certain  of  the  support 
of  the  "Viceroy"  of  Arcis,  if  it  were  only  to  punish  the 
audacity  of  Simon  Giguet.  The  election  of  an  upstart,  in  the 
very  act  of  flagrant  ingratitude  and  hostility,  would,  cast  a  slur 
on  the  Comte  de  Gondreville's  provincial  supremacy,  and 
must  be  averted  at  any  cost.  Still,  Beauvisage  must  expect, 
at  the  first  announcement  of  his  parliamentary  ambition,  a 
far  from  flattering  or  encouraging  expression  of  surprise  on 
the  part  of  his  father-in-law  Grevin.     The  old  man  had,  once 


110  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

for  all,  taken  his  son-in-law's  measure ;  and  to  a  mind  as  well 
balanced  and  clear  as  his,  the  notion  of  Phileas  as  a  states- 
man would  have  the  same  unpleasant  effect  as  a  startling  dis- 
cord has  on  the  ear.  Also,  if  it  is  true  that  no  man  is  a 
prophet  in  his  own  country,  he  is  still  less  so  in  his  own 
family,  where  any  recognition  of  even  the  most  indisputable 
success  is  grudged  or  questioned  long  after  it  has  ceased  to  be 
doubted  by  the  outer  world.  But,  the  first  shock  over,  Grevin 
would  probably  become  accustomed  to  an  alternative,  which, 
after  all,  was  not  antagonistic  to  his  own  notions  for  the  future 
existence  of  Severine.  And  then  what  sacrifice  would  he  not 
be  ready  to  make  to  save  the  high  influence  of  the  Gondre- 
villes,  so  evidently  endangered  ? 

To  the  legitimist  and  republican  parties,  neither  of  which 
could  have  any  weight  in  the  elections  excepting  to  turn  the 
scale,  Monsieur  de  Trailles'  nominee  had  one  strange  recom- 
mendation— namely,  his  acknowledged  ineptitude.  These 
two  fractional  elements  of  the  anti-dynastic  opposition  knew 
that  neither  was  strong  enough  to  return  a  member;  hence 
they  would  probably  be  eager  to  embrace  an  opportunity  of 
playing  a  trick  on  what  they  disdainfully  called  the  established 
order  of  things;  and  it  might  confidently  be  expected  that, 
in  cheerful  desperation,  they  would  heartily  contribute  to  the 
success  of  a  candidate  so  grossly  ridiculous  as  to  reflect  a 
broad  beam  of  ridicule  on  the  Government  that  could  sup- 
port his  election.  Finally,  in  the  suff"rages  of  the  Left  Centre, 
which  had  provisionally  accepted  Simon  ^iguet  as  its  candi- 
date, Beauvisage  would  give  rise  to  a  strong  secession,  since 
he  too  gave  himself  out  as  opposed  to  the  reigning  dynasty ; 
and  Monsieur  de  Trailles,  pending  further  orders,  while  assur- 
ing the  mayor  of  the  support  of  the  ministry,  meant  to  en- 
courage that  political  bias,  which  was  undoubtedly  the  most 
popular  on  the  scene  of  operations. 

Whatever  budget  of  convictions  the  incorruptible  representa- 
tive might  carry  with  him  to  Paris,  his  horoscope  was  drawn  \ 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  Ill 

it  was  quite  certain  that  on  his  very  first  appearance  at  the 
Tuileries,  august  fascination  would  win  him  over  to  fanaticism, 
if  the  mere  snares  of  ministerial  enticement  were  not  enough 
to  produce  that  result. 

Public  interest  being  so  satisfactorily  arranged  for,  the 
electoral  agent  had* now  to  consider  the  personal  question: 
Whether,  while  manufacturing  a  deputy,  he  could  find  the 
stuff  that  would  also  make  a  father-in-law.  The  first  point — 
the  fortune,  and  the  second  point — the  young  lady,  met  his 
views;  the  first  without  dazzling  him,  the  second  without  his 
being  blind  to  the  defects  of  a  provincial  education  which 
must  be  corrected  from  the  beginning,  but  which  would  prob- 
ably not  offer  any  serious  resistance  to  his  skillful  marital 
guidance.  Madame  Beauvisage  carried  her  husband  away  by 
storm  ;  she  was  an  ambitious  woman,  who,  in  spite  of  her 
four-and-forty  years,  still  seemed  conscious  of  a  heart.  Con- 
sequently, the  best  game  to  play  would  perhaps  be  a  feint 
attack  on  her,  to  be  subsequently  turned  with  advantage  on 
the  daughter. 

How  far  must  the  advanced  works  be  carried  ?  A  question 
to  be  answered  as  circumstances  might  direct.  In  any  case, 
so  far  as  the  two  women  were  concerned,  Maxime  felt  that  he 
had  the  strong  recommendation  of  his  title,  his  reputation  as 
a  man  of  fashion,  and  his  peculiar  fitness  to  initiate  them  into 
the  elegant  and  difficult  arcana  of  Paris  life ;  and,  finally,  as 
the  founder  of  Beauvisage's  political  fortunes,  which  promised 
such  a  happy  revolution  in  the  life  of  these  two  exiled  ladies, 
might  not  Monsieur  de  Trailles  expect  to  find  them  enthusi- 
astically grateful  ? 

At  the  same  time,  there  remained  one  serious  difficulty  in 
the  way  of  a  successful  matrimonial  campaign.  He  must  ob- 
tain the  consent  of  old  Grevin,  who  was  not  the  man  to  allow 
Cecile's  marriage  without  making  the  strictest  inquiries  into 
the  past  career  of  her  suitor.  Now,  in  the  event  of  such  an 
inquiry,  wag  there  not  some  fear  that  a  punctilious  qW  man 


112  THE   DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

might  fail  to  find  a  record  of  such  complete  security  and  con- 
ventional virtues  as  his  prudence  might  insist  on  ? 

The  semi-governmental  mission  which  had  brought  Monsieur 
de  Trailles  to  Arcis  would  indeed  give  a  semblance  of  such 
importance  and  amendment  as  might  be  calculated  to  neu- 
tralize the  effect  of  certain  items  of  information.  And  if,  be- 
fore this  mission  were  made  public,  it  were  confided  as  a  great 
secret  to  Grevin  by  Gondreville,  the  old  man's  vanity  would 
be  flattered,  and  that  would  score  in  Maxime's  favor. 

He  then  resolved,  in  this  difficult  predicament,  to  adopt 
the  very  old  trick  attributed  to  Gribouille,  consisting  in  throw- 
ing himself  into  the  water  to  avoid  getting  wet.  He  would 
anticipate  the  old  notary's  suspicions  ;  he  himself  would  seem 
to  doubt  his  own  prudence;  and,  by  way  of  a  precaution 
against  the  temptations  that  had  so  long  beset  him,  he  deter- 
mined to  make  it  a  preliminary  condition  that  Cecile's  for- 
tune should  be  expressly  settled  on  herself.  By  this  means 
they  would  feel  safe  against  any  relapse  on  his  part  into  habits 
of  extravagance. 

It  would  be  his  business  to  acquire  such  influence  over  his 
young  wife  as  would  enable  him,  by  acting  on  her  feelings,  to 
recover  the  conjugal  authority  of  which  such  a  marriage-con- 
tract would  deprive  him. 

At  first  nothing  occurr-jd  to  make  him  doubt  the  wisdom 
and  perspicacity  of  all  these  projects.  As  soon  as  it  was 
mooted,  the  nomination  of  Beauvisage  caught  fire  like  a  train 
of  gunpowder ;  and  Monsieur  de  Trailles  thought  the  success 
of  all  his  schemes  so  probable  that  he  felt  justified  in  writing 
to  Rastignac,  pledging  himself  to  carry  out  his  mission  with 
the  happiest  and  completest  results. 

But,  suddenly  in  opposition  to  Beauvisage  the  triumphant, 
another  candidate  appeared  on  the  scene  ;  and,  it  may  be  in- 
cidentally noted,  that,  for  the  good  fortune  of  this  piece  of 
history,  the  competitor  presented  himself  under  conditions  so 
exceptional  and  so  unforeseen  that,  instead  of  a  picture  of 


THE   DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  118 

petty  conflicts  attending  a  country  election,  it  may  very  prob- 
ably afford  the  interest  of  a  far  more  exciting  drama. 

The  man  who  intervenes  in  this  narrative  to  fill  so  high 
a  calling  will  be  called  upon  to  play  so  important  a  part 
that  it  is  necessary  to  introduce  him  by  a  somewhat  lengthy 
retrospective  explanafion.  But  at  the  stage  we  have  reached, 
to  interrupt  the  story  by  a  sort  of  argument  in  the  middle 
would  be  a  breach  of  all  the  laws  of  art,  and  expose  me  to  the 
wrath  of  the  Critic,  that  sanctimonious  guardian  of  literary 
orthodoxy. 

In  the  presence  of  such  a  dilemma,  the  author  would  find 
himself  in  serious  difficulties,  but  that  his  lucky  star  threw  in 
his  way  a  correspondence  in  which  he  found  every  detail  he 
could  wish  to  place  before  the  reader  set  forth  in  order,  with 
a  brilliancy  and  vividness  he  could  not  have  hoped  to  achieve. 

These  letters  are  worthy  of  being  read  with  attention. 
While  they  bring  on  to  the  scene  many  actors  in  the  Human 
Comedy  who  have  appeared  before,  they  explain  a  number  of 
facts  indispensable  to  the  understanding  and  progress  of  this 
particular  drama.  When  they  have  been  presented,  and  the 
narrative  thus  brought  up  to  the  point  where  it  now  apparently 
breaks  off,  it  will  resume  its  course  without  any  hiatus ;  and 
the  author  flatters  himself  that  the  introduction  for  a  time  of 
the  epistolary  form,  instead  of  destroying  its  unity,  may,  in 
fact,  enhance  it. 
8 


PART  II. 

EDIFYING    LETTERS. 
THE   COMTE    DE   l'eSTORADE    TO   MARIE-GASTON.* 

My  DEAR  Sir  : — In  obedience  to  your  request,  I  have  seen 
M.  the  Prefet  of  Police,  to  ascertain  whether  the  pious  pur- 
pose of  which  you  speak  in  your  letter  dated  from  Carrara 
will  meet  with  any  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  authorities. 
He  informs  me  that  the  Imperial  decree  of  the  23d  Prairial 
of  the  year  XII.,  which  is  still  paramount  on  all  points  con- 
nected with  interments,  establishes  beyond  a  doubt  the  right 
of  every  landowner  to  be  buried  in  his  own  ground.  You 
have  only  to  apply  for  permission  from  the  prefet  of  the  De- 
partment— Seine-et-Oise — and  without  any  further  formality, 
you  can  transfer  the  mortal  remains  of  Madame  Marie-Gaston 
to  the  monument  you  propose  to  erect  to  her  in  your  park  at 
Ville-d'Avray.  » 

But  I  may  now  be  so  bold  as  to  suggest  to  you  some  objec- 
tions. Are  you  quite  sure  that  difficulties  may  not  be  raised 
by  the  Chaulieu  family,  with  whom  you  are  not  on  the  best 
terms?  In  fact,  might  they  not,  up  to  a  certain  point,  be 
justified  in  complaining  that,  by  removing  a  tomb — dear  to 
them  as  well  as  to  you — from  a  public  cemetery  to  private  and 
inclosed  ground,  you  are  regulating  the  visits  they  may  wish 
to  pay  to  that  grave  by  your  own  arbitrary  will  and  pleasure? 
Since,  evidently,  it  will  be  in  your  power  to  prohibit  their 
coming  on  to  your  property. 

I  am  well  aware  that,  strictly  speaking,  a  wife,  living  or 
dead,  belongs  to  her  husband,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other 

*  See  "  Letters  of  Two  Brides." 
(114) 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR   ARCIS.  115 

relationship  however  near.  But  if,  under  the  promptings  of 
the  ill-feeling  they  have  already  manifested  toward  you  on 
more  than  one  occasion,  Madame  Marie-Gaston's  parents 
should  choose  to  dispute  your  decision  by  an  action  at  law, 
what  a  painful  business  it  must  be  !  You  would  gain  the  day, 
I  make  no  doubt,  the  Tiuc  de  Chaulieu's  influence  being  no 
longer  what  it  was  at  the  time  of  the  Restoration ;  but  have 
you  considered  what  venom  an  advocate's  tongue  can  infuse 
into  such  a  question,  especially  when  arguing  a  very  natural 
claim :  that  of  a  father,  mother,  and  two  brothers,  pleading 
to  be  left  in  possession  of  the  melancholy  gratification  of 
praying  over  a  grave  ? 

And  if  I  must  indeed  tell  you  my  whole  mind,  it  is  with 
deep  regret  that  I  find  you  inventing  new  forms  of  cherishing 
your  grief,  too  long  inconsolable.  We  had  hoped  that,  after 
spending  two  years  in  Italy,  you  would  return  more  resigned, 
and  would  make  up  your  mind  to  seek  some  diversion  from 
your  sorrow  in  active  life.  But  this  sort  of  temple  to  ardent 
memories  which  you  are  proposing  to  erect  in  a  place  where 
they  already  crush  you  too  closely,  can  only  prolong  their 
bitterness,  and  I  cannot  approve  the  perennial  renewal  you 
will  thus  confer  on  them. 

However,  as  we  are  bound  to  serve  our  friends  in  their  own 
way,  I  have  conveyed  your  message  to  Monsieur  Dorlange ; 
still,  I  cannot  but  tell  you  that  he  was  far  from  eager  to  enter 
into  your  views.  His  first  words,  when  I  announced  myself 
as  representing  you,  were  that  he  had  not  the  honor  of  know- 
ing you ;  and,  strange  as  the  reply  may  seem  to  you,  it  was 
spoken  with  such  perfect  simplicity,  that  at  first  I  imagined  I 
had  made  some  mistake,  some  confusion  of  name.  However, 
as  your  oblivious  friend  presently  admitted  that  he  had  been 
at  school  at  the  college  of  Tours,  and  also  that  he  was  the 
same  M.  Dorlange  who,  in  1831,  had  taken  the  first  prize  for 
sculpture  under  quite  exceptional  circumstances,  I  could  enter- 
tain no  doubt  as  to  his  identity.     I  then  accounted  to  myself 


116  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

for  his  defective  memory  by  the  long  break  in  your  inter- 
course, of  which  you  wrote.  That  neglect  must  have  wounded 
him  more  than  you  imagined  ;  and  when  he  affected  not  even 
to  recollect  your  name,  it  was  a  revenge  he  was  not  sorry 
to  take. 

This,  however,  is  not  the  real  obstacle. 

Remembering  on  what  brotherly  terms  you  had  formerly 
been,  I  could  not  believe  that  M.  Dorlange's  wrath  would  be 
inexorable.  And  so,  after  explaining  to  him  the  work  he  was 
invited  to  undertake,  I  was  about  to  enter  on  some  explana- 
tions as  to  his  grievance  against  you,  when  I  was  met  by  the 
most  unlooked-for  obstacle. 

"Indeed,"  said  he,  ''the  importance  of  the  commission 
you  are  good  enough  to  propose  to  me,  the  assurance  that  no 
outlay  will  be  thought  too  great  for  the  dignity  and  perfection 
of  the  work,  the  invitation  to  set  out  myself  for  Carrara  to 
superintend  the  choice  and  extraction  of  the  marbles — the 
whole  thing  is  a  piece  of  such  great  good  fortune  for  an  artist, 
that  at  any  other  time  I  should  have  accepted  it  eagerly.  But 
at  this  moment,  when  you  honor  me  with  a  call,  though  I 
have  no  fixed  intention  of  abandoning  my  career  as  an  artist, 
I  am  possibly  about  to  be  launched  in  political  life.  My 
friends  are  urging  me  to  come  forward  as  a  candidate  at  the 
coming  elections  ;  and,  as  you  will  understand,  monsieur,  if 
I  should  be  returned,  the  complication  of  parliamentary 
duties,  and  my  initiation  into  a  new  experience,  would,  for 
some  time  at  any  rate,  stand  in  the  way  of  undertaking  such 
a  work  as  you  propose,  with  the  necessary  leisure  and  thought. 
Also,"  added  M.  Dorlange,  "I  should  be  working  in  the 
service  of  a  great  sorrow  anxious  to  find  consolation  at  any 
cost  in  the  projected  monument.  That  sorrow  would  natu- 
rally be  impatient  ;  I  should  inevitably  be  slow,  disturbed, 
hindered  ;  it  will  be  better,  therefore,  to  apply  to  some  one 
else — which  does  not  make  me  less  grateful  for  the  honor  and 
confidence  you  have  shown  me." 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  117 

After  listening  to  this  little  speech,  very  neatly  turned,  as 
you  perceive,  it  struck  me  that  your  friend  was  anticipating 
parliamentary  triumphs,  perhaps  a  little  too  confidently,  and, 
for  a  moment,  I  thought  of  hinting  at  the  possibility  of  his 
failing  at  the  election,  and  asking  whether,  in  that  case,  I 
might  call  on  him  again:'  But  it  is  never  polite  to  cast  doubts 
on  popular  success ;  and  as  I  was  talking  to  a  man  already 
much  offended,  I  would  not  throw  oil  on  the  fire  by  a  ques- 
tion that  might  have  been  taken  amiss.  I  merely  expressed 
my  regrets,  and  said  I  would  let  you  know  the  result  of  my 
visit. 

I  need  hardly  say  that  within  a  few  days  I  shall  have 
found  out  what  are  the  prospects  of  this  parliamentary  ambi- 
tion which  has  arisen  so  inopportunely  in  our  way.  For  my 
part,  there  seem  to  me  to  be  a  thousand  reasons  for  expecting 
it  to  miss  fire.  Assuming  this,  you  would  perhaps  do  well  to 
write  M.  Dorlange ;  for  his  manner,  though  perfectly  polite 
and  correct,  appeared  to  confess  a  still  lively  memory  of  some 
wrong  for  which  you  will  have  to  obtain  forgiveness.  I  know 
that  it  must  be  painful  to  you  to  explain  the  very  singular  cir- 
cumstances of  your  marriage,  for  it  will  compel  you  to  retrace 
the  days  of  your  happiness,  now  so  cruelly  a  memory.  But, 
judging  from  what  I  saw  of  your  old  friend,  if  you  are  really 
bent  on  his  giving  you  the  benefit  of  his  talents,  if  you  do  not 
apply  to  him  yourself,  but  continue  to  employ  a  go-between, 
you  will  be  persisting  in  a  course  which  he  finds  disobliging, 
and  expose  yourself  to  a  final  refusal. 

At  the  same  time,  if  the  step  I  urge  on  you  is  really  too 
much  for  you,  there  is  perhaps  another  alternative.  Madame 
de  I'Estorade  has  always  seemed  to  me  a  very  tactful  negoti- 
ator in  any  business  she  undertakes,  and  in  this  particular  in- 
stance I  should  feel  entire  confidence  in  her  skill.  She  en- 
dured, from  Madame  Marie-Gaston's  gusts  of  selfish  passion, 
treatment  much  like  that  of  which  Monsieur  Dorlange  com- 
plains.    She,  better  than  anybody,  will  be  in  a  position  to  ex- 


118  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

plain  to  him  the  absorbing  cares  of  married  life  which  you  shut 
up  in  its  own  narrow  folds ;  and  it  seems  to  me  that  the  ex- 
ample of  longsuffering  and  patience  which  she  always  showed 
to  her  whom  she  would  call  her  "dear  crazy  thing,"  cannot 
fail  to  infect  your  mind. 

You  have  ample  time  to  think  over  the  use  you  may  wish 
to  make  of  the  opening  that  thus  offers.  Madame  de  I'Esto- 
rade  is  just  now  suffering  from  a  nervous  shock,  the  result  of  a 
terrible  fright.  A  week  ago  our  dear  little  NaTs  was  within  an 
ace  of  being  crushed  before  her  eyes  ;  and  but  for  the  courage 
of  a  stranger  who  rushed  at  the  horses'  heads  and  brought  them 
up  short,  God  knows  what  dreadful  misfortune  would  have  be- 
fallen us.  This  fearful  moment  produced  in  Madame  de  I'Es- 
torade  an  attack  of  nervous  excitement  which  made  us  for  a 
time  excessively  anxious.  Though  she  is  much  better  to-day, 
it  will  be  some  days  yet  before  she  can  see  Monsieur  Dorlange, 
supposing  you  should  think  her  feminine  intervention  desirable 
and  useful. 

Still,  once  again,  my  dear  sir,  would  it  not  be  wiser  to  give 
up  your  idea  ?  All  I  can  foresee  as  the  outcome  for  you  is 
enormous  expense,  unpleasant  squabbles  with  the  Chaulieus, 
and  a  renewal  of  all  your  sorrows.  Notwithstanding,  I  am 
none  the  less  at  your  service  in  and  for  anything,  as  I  cannot 
fail  to  be,  from  every  sentiment  of  esteem  and  friendship. 

THE  COMTESSE   DE   l'eSTORADE  TO  MADAME  OCTAVE   DE  CAMPS. 

Paris,  February,  1839. 
Dear  Friend: — Of  all  the  expressions  of  sympathy  that 
have  reached  me  since  the  dreadful  accident  to  my  poor  child, 
none  has  touched  me  more  deeply  than  your  kind  letter.  To 
answer  your  affectionate  inquiry,  I  must  say  that  in  that  ter- 
rible moment  Nais  was  marvelously  composed  and  calm.  It 
would  be  impossible,  I  think,  to  see  death  more  imminent, 
but  neither  at  the  time  nor  afterward  did  the   brave  child 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  119 

flinch  ;  everything  shows  her  to  have  a  firm  nature,  and  her 
health,  thank  God,  has  not  suffered  in  the  faintest  degree. 

I,  for  my  part,  as  a  consequence  of  my  intense  fright,  have 
had  an  attack  of  spasmodic  convulsions,  and  for  some  days,  it 
would  seem,  alarmed  my  doctor,  who  feared  I  might  go  out  of 
my  mind.  Thanks,  However,  to  a  strong  constitution,  I  am 
now  almost  myself  again,  and  no  traces  would  remain  of  that 
painful  shock  if  it  had  not,  by  a  singular  fatality,  been  con- 
nected with  another  unpleasant  circumstance  which  I  had  for 
some  time  thought  fit  to  fill  a  place  in  my  life. 

Even  before  this  latest  kind  assurance  of  your  good-will 
toward  me,  I  had  thought  of  turning  to  the  help  of  your 
friendship  and  advice ;  and  now,  when  you  are  so  good  as  to 
write  that  you  would  be  happy  and  proud  if  in  any  degree  you 
might  take  the  place  of  poor  Louise  de  Chaulieu,  the  dear, 
incomparable  friend  snatched  from  me  by  death,  how  can  I 
hesitate?  I  take  you  at  your  word,  my  dear  madame,  and 
boldly  request  you  to  exert  in  my  favor  the  delicate  skill 
which  enabled  you  to  defy  impertinent  comment  when  the 
impossibility  of  announcing  your  marriage  to  Monsieur  de 
Camps  exposed  you  to  insolent  and  perfidious  curiosity — the 
peculiar  tact  by  which  you  extricated  yourself  from  a  position 
of  difficulty  and  danger — in  short,  the  wonderful  art  which 
allowed  you  at  once  to  keep  your  secret  and  maintain  your 
dignity.  I  need  their  help  in  the  disagreeable  matter  to 
which  I  have  alluded.  Unfortunately,  to  benefit  by  the  doc- 
tor's advice,  the  patient  must  explain  the  case ;  and  here  M. 
de  Camps,  with  his  genius  for  business,  seems  to  me  an  atro- 
cious person.  Owing  to  those  odious  forges  he  has  chosen  to 
buy,  you  are  as  good  as  dead  to  Paris  and  the  world.  Of  old, 
when  you  were  at  hand,  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour's  chat  I  could 
have  told  the  whole  story  without  hesitancy  or  preparation ; 
as  it  is,  I  have  to  think  it  all  out  and  go  through  the  solemn 
formality  of  a  confession  in  black  and  white. 

After  all,  effrontery  will  perhaps  best  serve  my  turn ;  and 


120  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

since,  in  spite  of  circumlocutions  and  preambles,  I  must  at 
last  come  to  the  point,  why  not  confess  at  once  that  at  the 
kernel  of  the  matter  is  that  very  stranger  who  rescued  my  poor 
little  girl.  A  stranger — be  it  clearly  understood — to  M.  de 
I'Estorade,  and  to  all  who  may  have  reported  the  accident;  a 
stranger  to  the  whole  world,  if  you  please — but  not  to  your 
humble  servant,  whom  this  man  has  for  three  months  past 
condescended  to  honor  with  the  most  persistent  attention.  It 
cannot  seem  any  less  preposterous  to  you  than  it  does  to  me, 
my  dear  friend,  that  I,  at  two-and-thirty,  with  three  children, 
one  a  tall  son  of  fifteen,  should  have  become  the  object  of 
unremitting  devotion,  and  yet  that  is  the  absurd  misfortune 
against  which  I  have  to  protect  myself. 

And  when  I  say  that  I  know  the  unknown,  this  is  but  partly 
true :  I  know  neither  his  name  nor  his  place  of  residence,  nor 
anything  about  him ;  I  never  met  him  in  society ;  and  I  may 
add  that  though  he  has  the  ribbon  of  the  Legion  of  Honor, 
nothing  in  his  appearance,  which  has  no  trace  of  elegance, 
leads  me  to  suppose  that  I  ever  shall  meet  him  in  society. 

It  was  at  the  church  of  Saint-Thomas  d'Aquin,  where,  as 
you  know,  I  was  in  the  daily  habit  of  attending  mass,  that 
this  annoying  "shadowing"  first  began.  I  also  took  the 
children  out  walking  in  the  Tuileries  almost  every  day,  M.  de 
I'Estorade  having  taken  a  house  without  a  garden.  This 
custom  was  soon  noted  by  my  persecutor,  and  gave  him  bold- 
ness ;  for  wherever  I  was  to  be  found  out  of  doors  I  had  to  put 
up  with  his  presence.  But  this  singular  adorer  was  as  prudent 
as  he  was  daring ;  he  always  avoided  following  me  to  my  door; 
and  he  steered  his  way  at  such  a  distance  and  so  undemon- 
stratively,  that  I  had  at  any  rate  the  comforting  certainty  that 
his  foolish  assiduity  could  not  attract  the  notice  of  anybody 
who  was  with  me.  And  yet,  heaven  alone  knows  to  what 
inconveniences  and  privations  I  have  submitted  to  put  him  off 
my  track.  I  never  entered  the  church  but  on  Sunday ;  and 
to  the  risk  of  the  dear  children's  health  I  have  often  kept  them 


THE   DEPUTY  FOR   ARCIS.  121 

at  home,  or  invented  excuses  for  not  going  out  with  them, 
leaving  them  to  the  servants — against  all  my  principles  of 
education  and  prudence. 

Visits,  shopping — I  can  do  nothing  but  in  a  carriage ;  and 
all  this  could  not  hinder  that,  just  when  I  fancied  I  had 
routed  this  tiresdfije  person  and  exhausted  his  patience,  he 
was  on  the  spot  to  play  so  brave  and  providential  a  part  in 
that  dreadful  accident  to  Na'is.  But  it  is  this  very  obligation 
which  I  now  owe  him  that  introduces  a  vexatious  complica- 
tion into  a  position  already  so  awkward.  If  I  had  at  last 
been  too  much  annoyed  by  his  persistency  I  might  by  some 
means,  even  by  some  decisive  action,  have  put  an  end  to  his 
persecution ;  but  now,  if  he  comes  across  my  path,  what  can 
I  do  ?  How  am  I  to  proceed  ?  Merely  to  thank  him  would 
be  to  encourage  him  ;  and  even  if  he  should  not  try  to  take 
advantage  of  my  civilities  to  alter  our  relative  position,  I 
should  have  him  at  my  heels  closer  than  ever.  Am  I  then 
not  to  notice  him,  to  affect  not  to  recognize  him  ?  But,  my 
dear  madame,  think  !  A  mother  who  owes  her  child's  life  to 
his  efforts  and  pretends  not  to  perceive  it — who  has  not  a 
word  of  gratitude ! 

This,  then,  is  the  intolerable  dilemma  in  which  I  find  my- 
self, and  you  can  see  how  sorely  I  need  your  advice  and 
judgment.  What  can  I  do  to  break  the  odious  habit  this 
gentleman  has  formed  of  following  me  like  my  shadow? 
How  am  I  to  thank  him  without  exciting  his  imagination, 
or  to  avoid  thanking  him  without  suffering  the  reproaches 
of  my  conscience  ?  This  is  the  problem  I  submit  to  your 
wisdom. 

If  you  will  do  me  the  service  of  solving  it — and  I  know 
no  one  else  so  capable — I  shall  add  my  gratitude  to  the 
affection  which,  as  you  know,  dear  madame,  I  already  feel 
for  you. 


122  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

THE   COMTE   DE   l'eSTORADE   TO   MARIE-GASTON. 

Paris,  February,  1839. 

The  public  prints,  my  dear  sir,  may  have  been  beforehand 
in  giving  you  an  account  of  a  meeting  between  your  friend 
M.  Dorlange  and  the  Due  de  Rhetore.  But  the  newspapers, 
by  announcing  the  bare  facts — since  custom  and  propriety  do 
not  allow  them  to  expatiate  on  the  motives  of  the  quarrel — 
will  only  have  excited  your  curiosity  without  satisfying  it.  I 
happen  to  know  on  good  authority  all  the  details  of  the  affair, 
and  I  hasten  to  communicate  them  to  you,  as  they  must  to 
you  be  of  the  greatest  interest. 

Three  days  ago,  that  is  to  say,  on  the  evening  of  the  day 
when  I  had  called  on  M.  Dorlange,  the  Due  de  Rhetore  was 
in  a  stall  at  the  opera.  M.  de  Ronquerolles,  who  has  lately 
returned  from  a  diplomatic  mission  that  had  detained  him  far 
from  Paris  for  some  years,  presently  took  the  seat  next  to  him. 
Between  the  acts  these  gentlemen  did  not  leave  their  places  to 
walk  in  the  gallery ;  but,  as  is  commonly  done  in  the  theatre, 
they  stood  up  with  their  backs  to  the  stage,  consequently  facing 
M.  Dorlange,  who  sat  behind  them  and  seemed  absorbed  in 
the  evening's  news.  There  had  been  a  very  uproarious  scene 
in  the  Chamber — what  is  termed  a  very  interesting  debate. 
The  conversation  turned  very  naturally  on  the  events  in  Paris 
society  during  M.  de  Ronquerolles'  absence,  and  he  happened 
to  make  this  remark,  which,  of  course,  attracted  M.  Dorlange's 
attention  : 

"  And  that  poor  Madame  de  Macumer — what  a  sad  end, 
and  what  a  strange  marriage  !  " 

"Oh,  you  know,"  said  M.  de  Rhetor^  in  the  high-pitched 
tone  he  affects,  "  my  sister  had  too  much  imagination  not  to 
be  a  little  chimerical  and  romantic.  She  was  passionately  in 
love  with  M.  de  Macumer,  her  first  husband  ;  still,  one  may 
tire  of  all  things,  even  of  widowhood.     This  M.  Marie-Gaston 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  123 

came  in  her  way.  He  is  attractive  in  person  ;  my  sister  was 
rich,  he  very  much  in  debt ;  he  was  proportionately  amiable 
and  attentive;  and,  on  my  honor,  the  rogue  managed  so 
cleverly  that,  after  stepping  into  M.  de  Macumer's  shoes  and 
making  his  wife  die  of  jealousy,  he  got  out  of  her  everything 
that  the  law  allotted  the  poor  silly  woman  to  dispose  of. 
Louise  left  a  fortune  of  at  least  twelve  hundred  thousand 
francs,  to  say  nothing  of  magnificent  furniture  and  a  delight- 
ful villa  she  had  built  at  Ville-d' Avray.  Half  of  this  came  to 
our  gentleman,  the  other  half  to  my  father  and  mother,  the 
Due  and  Duchesse  de  Chaulieu,  who,  as  parents,  had  a  right 
to  that  share.  As  to  my  brother  Lenoncourt  and  me — we 
were  simply  disinherited  for  our  portion." 

As  soon  as  your  name  was  pronounced,  my  dear  sir,  M, 
Dorlange  laid  down  his  paper;  then,  as  M,  de  Rhetore  ceased 
speaking,  he  rose. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  M.  le  Due,  for  taking  the  liberty  of 
correcting  your  statements  ;  but,  as  a  matter  of  conscience,  I 
must  assure  you  that  you  are  to  the  last  degree  misinformed." 

"You  say? "   replied  the  duke,  half-closing  his  eyes, 

and  in  a  tone  of  contempt  which  you  can  easily  imagine. 

"I  say,  Monsieur  le  Due,  that  Marie-Gaston  has  been  my 
friend  from  childhood,  and  that  he  has  never  been  called  a 
rogue.  On  the  contrary,  he  is  a  man  of  honor  and  talent ; 
and  far  from  making  his  wife  die  of  jealousy,  he  made  her 
perfectly  happy  during  three  years  of  married  life.  As  to  her 
fortune " 

"You  have  considered  the  consequences  of  this  step?" 
said  the  duke,  interrupting  him. 

"  Certainly,  monsieur.  And  I  repeat  that,  with  regard  to 
the  fortune  left  to  Marie-Gaston  by  a  special  provision  in  his 
wife's  will,  he  coveted  it  so  little  that,  to  my  knowledge,  he 
is  about  to  devote  a  sum  of  two  or  three  hundred  thousand 
francs  to  the  erection  of  a  monument  to  the  wife  he  has  never 
ceased  to  mourn." 


124  THE   DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"And,  after  all,  monsieur,  who  are  you?"  the  Due  de 
Rhetore  broke  in  again,  with  growing  irritation. 

"  In  a  moment  I  shall  have  the  honor  to  inform  you,"  re- 
plied M.  Dorlange.  "  But,  first,  you  will  allow  me  to  add 
that  Madame  Marie-Gaston  could  have  no  pangs  of  conscience 
in  disposing  as  she  did  of  the  fortune  of  which  you  have  been 
deprived.  All  her  wealth,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  came  to  her 
from  M.  le  Baron  de  Macumer,  her  first  husband,  and  she 
had  previously  renounced  her  patrimony  to  secure  an  adequate 
position  to  your  brother,  M.  le  Due  de  Lenoncourt-Givry, 
who,  as  a  younger  son,  had  not,  like  yourself,  M.  \z  Due,  the 
benefit  of  the  entail." 

M.  Dorlange  felt  in  his  pocket  for  his  card-case,  but  it  was 
not  there. 

"  I  have  no  cards  about  me,"  he  said  ;  "  but  my  name  is 
Dorlange — a  sort  of  stage-name,  and  easy  to  remember — 42 
Rue  de  I'Ouest." 

"  Not  a  very  central  position,"  M.  de  Rhetor^  remarked 
ironically. 

At  the  same  time  he  turned  to  M.  de  Ronquerolles,  and 
taking  him  as  a  witness  and  as  his  second — 

"  I  must  apologize  to  you,  my  dear  fellow,"  said  he,  "  for 
sending  you  on  a  voyage  of  discovery  to-morrow  morning." 
Then  he  added :  "  Come  to  the  smoking-room  ;  we  can  talk 
there  in  peace,  and  at  any  rate  in  security.'" 

By  the  emphasis  he  laid  on  the  last  word,  it  was  impossible 
to  misunderstand  the  innuendo  it  was  meant  to  convey.  The 
two  gentlemen  went  out,  without  the  scene  having  given  rise 
to  any  commotion  or  fuss;  since  the  stalls  all  round  them  were 
empty,  and  M.  Dorlange  then  caught  sight  of  M.  Stidman, 
the  famus  sculptor,  at  the  other  end  of  the  stalls.  He  went 
up  to  him. 

"Do  you  happen  to  have,"  said  he,  "such  a  thing  as  a 
memorandum  or  sketch  book  in  your  pocket  ?  " 

"Yes — always." 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  125 

"  Then  would  you  lend  it  to  me  and  allow  me  to  tear  a  leaf 
out  ?  I  have  just  had  an  idea  that  I  do  not  want  to  lose.  If 
I  should  not  see  you  as  you  go  out,  to  return  the  book,  you 
shall  have  it  without  fail  to-morrow  morning." 

On  returning  to  his  seat  M.  Dorlange  made  a  hasty  pencil 
sketch  ;  and  wheirthe  curtain  rose,  and  MM.  de  Rhetore  and 
de  Ronquerolles  came  back  to  their  places,  he  lightly  touched 
the  duke  on  the  shoulder,  and,  handing  him  the  drawing,  he 
said,  "My  card,  which  I  have  the  honor  of  giving  to  your 
grace. ' ' 

The  card  was  a  pretty  sketch  of  sculpturesque  architecture 
set  in  a  landscape.  Underneath  it  was  written  :  "  Sketch  for 
a  monument  to  be  erected  to  the  memory  of  Madame  Marie- 
Gaston,  nee  Chaulieu,  by  her  husband,  from  the  designs  of 
Charles  Dorlange,  sculptor,  Rue  I'Ouest,  42." 

He  could  have  found  no  more  ingenious  way  of  intimating 
to  M.  de  Rhetore  that  he  had  no  mean  adversary ;  and  you 
may  observe,  my  dear  sir,  that  M.  Dorlange  thus  gave  weight 
to  his  denial  by  giving  substance,  so  to  speak,  to  his  statement 
as  to  your  disinterestedness  and  conjugal  devotion  and  grief. 

The  performance  ended  without  any  further  incident.  M. 
de  Rhetore  parted  from  M.  de  Ronquerolles. 

M.  de  Ronquerolles  then  addressed  M.  Dorlange,  very  cour- 
teously endeavoring  to  effect  a  reconciliation,  observing  that 
though  he  might  be  in  the  right,  his  conduct  was  unconven- 
tional and  offensive,  that  M.  de  Rhetore  had  behaved  with 
great  moderation,  and  would  certainly  accept  the  very  slightest 
expression  of  regret — in  fact,  said  everything  that  could  be 
said  on  such  an  occasion.  M.  Dorlange  would  not  hear  of 
anything  approaching  to  an  apology,  and  on  the  following 
day  he  received  a  visit  from  M.  de  Ronquerolles  and  General 
de  Montriveau  as  representing  M.  de  Rhetore.  Again  they 
were  urgent  that  M.  Dorlange  should  consent  to  express  him- 
self in  different  language.  But  your  friend  was  not  to  be 
moved  from  this  ultimatum. 


126  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

**  Will  M.  Rhetore  withdraw  the  expressions  I  felt  myself 
bound  to  take  exception  to?     If  so,  I  will  retract  mine." 

"That  is  impossible,"  said  they.  "The  offense  was  per- 
sonal to  M.  de  Rhetore,  to  you  it  was  not.  Rightly  or 
wrongly,  he  firmly  believes  that  M.  Marie-Gaston  did  him  an 
injury.  Allowance  must  always  be  made  for  damaged  in- 
terests; perfect  justice  is  never  to  be  gotten  from  them." 

"  So  that  M.  le  Due  may  continue  to  slander  my  friend  at 
his  pleasure!"  said  M.  Dorlange,  "since,  in  the  first  place, 
my  friend  is  in  Italy;  and  in  the  second,  he  would  always,  if 
possible,  avoid  coming  to  extreme  measures  with  his  wife's 
brother.  And,"  he  added,  "it  is  precisely  this  impossibility 
of  his  defending  himself  which  gives  me  a  right — nay  more, 
makes  it  my  duty  to  intervene.  It  was  by  a  special  grace  of 
Providence  that  I  was  enabled  to  catch  some  of  the  malignant 
reports  that  are  flying  about  on  the  wing ;  and  since  M.  le 
Due  de  Rhetore  sees  no  reason  to  mitigate  his  language,  we 
will,  if  you  please,  carry  the  affair  through  to  the  end." 

The  dispute  being  reduced  to  these  terms,  the  duel  was 
inevitable,  and  in  the  course  of  the  day  the  seconds  on  both 
sides  arranged  the  conditions.  The  meeting  was  fixed  for  the 
next  morning;  the  weapons,  pistols.  On  the  ground,  M. 
Dorlange  was  perfectly  cool.  After  exchanging  shots  without 
eff"ect,  as  the  seconds  seemed  anxious  to  stop  the  proceedings — 

"Come,"  said  he  cheerfully,  "one  shot  more!  "  as  if  he 
were  firing  at  a  dummy  in  a  shooting  gallery. 

This  time  he  was  wounded  in  the  fleshy  part  of  the  thigh, 
not  a  dangerous  wound,  but  one  which  bled  very  freely. 
While  he  was  being  carried  to  the  carriage  in  which  he  had 
come,  M.  de  Rhetore  was  anxiously  giving  every  assistance, 
and  when  he  was  close  to  him — "All  the  same,"  said  Dor- 
lange, "  Marie-Gaston  is  an  honest  gentleman,  a  heart  of 
gold "  and  he  fainted  away  almost  as  he  spoke. 

This  duel,  as  you  may  suppose,  my  dear  sir,  has  been  the 
talk  of  the  town  ;  I   have  only  had  to  keep  my  ears  open  to 


This  time  he  was  wounded. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  127 

collect  any  amount  of  information  concerning  M.  Dorlange, 
for  he  is  the  lion  of  the  day,  and  all  yesterday  it  was  im- 
possible to  go  into  a  house  where  he  was  not  the  subject  of 
conversation.  My  harvest  was  chiefly  gathered  at  Mme.  de 
Montcornet's.  She,  as  you  know,  has  a  large  acquaintance 
among  artists  and  men  of  letters ;  and  to  give  you  a  notion  of 
the  position  your  friend  holds  in  their  regard,  I  need  only 
report  a  conversation  in  which  I  took  part  last  evening  in 
the  countess'  drawing-room.  The  speakers  were  M.  Emile 
Blondet,  of  the  "Debats;"  M.  Bixiou  the  caricaturist,  one 
of  the  best-informed  eavesdroppers  in  Paris — I  believe  you 
know  them  both,  but  at  any  rate  I  am  sure  that  you  are  inti- 
mate with  Joseph  Bridau,  our  great  painter,  who  was  the  third 
speaker,  for  I  remember  that  he  and  Daniel  d'Arthez  signed 
for  you  when  you  were  married. 

Bridau  was  speaking  when  I  joined  them. 

"Dorlange  began  splendidly,"  said  he.  "  There  was  the 
touch  of  a  great  master  even  in  the  work  he  sent  in  for  com- 
petition, to  which,  under  the  pressure  of  opinion,  the  Academy 
awarded  the  prize,  though  he  had  laughed  very  audaciously  at 
their  programme." 

"Quite  true,"  said  M.  Bixiou.  "And  the  Pandora  he 
exhibited  in  1837,  on  his  return  from  Rome,  was  also  a  very 
striking  work.  But  as  it  won  him,  out  of  hand,  the  Legion 
of  Honor  and  commissions  from  the  Government  and  the 
municipality,  with  at  least  thirty  flaming  notices  in  the  papers, 
I  doubt  if  he  can  ever  recover  from  that  success." 

"  That  is  a  verdict  a  la  Bixiou,"  said  Emile  Blondet. 

"  So  it  is,  and  with  good  reason.  Did  you  ever  see  the 
man?" 

"No,  he  is  seen  nowhere." 

"  True,  that  is  his  favorite  haunt.  He  is  a  bear,  but  a  bear 
intentionally  ;  out  of  affectation  and  deliberate  purpose." 

"I  really  cannot  see,"  said  Joseph  Bridau,  "that  such  a 
dislike  to  society  is  a  bad  frame  of  mind  for  an  artist.     What 


128  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

can  a  sculptor,  especially,  gain  by  frequenting  drawing-rooms 
where  men  and  women  have  got  into  the  habit  of  wearing 
clothes?" 

"  Well,  even  a  sculptor  may  get  some  amusement  which 
saves  him  from  monomania  or  brooding.  And  then  he  can 
see  how  the  world  wags — that  1839  is  neither  the  fifteenth  nor 
the  sixteenth  century." 

"What!  "  said  Blondet,  *' do  you  mean  the  poor  fellow 
suffers  from  that  delusion?" 

"  He  !  He  talks  quite  glibly  of  living  the  life  of  the  artists 
of  mediaeval  times,  with  all  their  universal  studies  and  learn- 
ing, and  the  terrific  labors  which  we  can  conceive  of  in  a 
society  that  was  still  semi-barbarous,  but  that  has  no  place  in 
ours.  He  is  a  guileless  dreamer,  and  never  perceives  that 
civilization,  by  strangely  complicating  our  social  intercourse, 
devotes  to  business,  interest,  and  pleasure  thrice  as  much  time 
as  a  less  advanced  social  organization  would  spend  on  those 
objects.  Look  at  the  savage  in  his  den  !  He  has  nothing  to 
do ;  but  we,  with  the  Bourse,  the  opera,  the  newspapers, 
parliamentary  debates,  drawing-room  meetings,  elections,  rail- 
roads, the  Cafe  de  Paris,  and  the  National  Guard — when,  I  ask 
you,  are  we  to  find  time  for  work  ?  " 

"A  splendid  theory  for  idlers,"  said  Emile  Blondet, 
laughing. 

"  Not  at  all,  my  dear  boy  ;  it  is  perfectly  true.  The  curfew 
no  longer  rings  at  nine  o'clock,  I  suppose  !  Well,  and  only 
last  evening,  if  my  door-porter  Ravenouillet  didn't  give  a 
party  !  Perhaps  I  committed  a  serious  blunder  by  declining 
the  indirect  invitation  he  sent  me." 

"  Still,"  said  Joseph  Bridau,  "  it  is  evident  that  a  man  who 
is  not  mixed  up  with  the  business  interests  or  pleasures  of  his 
age  may,  out  of  his  savings,  accumulate  a  very  pretty  capital 
of  time.  Dorlange,  I  fancy,  has  a  comfortable  income  irre- 
spective of  commissions ;  there  is  nothing  to  hinder  him  from 
living  as  he  has  a  mind  to  live. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  129 

"And,  as  you  see,  he  goes  to  the  opera,  since  it  was  there 
he  picked  up  his  duel.  And,  indeed,  you  have  hardly  hit  the 
nail  on  the  head  by  representing  him  as  cut  off  from  all  con- 
temporary interests,  when  I  happen  to  know  that  he  is  on  the 
point  of  taking  them  up  on  the  most  stirring  and  absorbing 
side  of  the  social  machine — namely,  politics!  " 

"  What!  he  thinks  he  can  be  a  politician?"  asked  Emile 
Blondet  scornfully. 

"It  is  part,  no  doubt,  of  his  famous  scheme  of  universal 
efficiency,  and  you  should  see  how  logically  and  perseveringly 
he  is  carrying  out  the  idea.  Last  year  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  francs  fell  on  him  from  the  sky,  and  my  man  pur- 
chased a  house  in  the  Rue  Saint-Martin  as  a  qualification  ;  and 
then,  as  another  little  speculation,  with  the  rest  of  the  money 
he  bought  shares  in  the  '  National '  newspaper,  and  I  find 
him  in  the  office  whenever  I  am  in  the  mood  to  have  a  laugh 
at  the  Republican  Utopia.  There  he  has  his  flatterers ;  they 
have  persuaded  him  that  he  is  a  born  orator  and  will  make  a 
sensation  in  the  Chamber.  There  is,  in  fact,  a  talk  of  work- 
ing up  a  constituency  to  nominate  him,  and  on  days  when 
they  are  very  enthusiastic  they  discover  that  he  is  like 
Danton." 

"  Oh,  this  is  the  climax  of  burlesque !  "  said  Emile 
Blondet. 

I  do  not  know,  my  dear  sir,  whether  you  have  ever  observed 
that  men  of  superior  talent  are  always  extremely  indulgent. 
This  was  now  proven  in  the  person  of  Joseph  Bridau. 

"I  agree  with  you,"  said  he,  "  that  if  Dorlange  starts  on 
that  track  he  is  almost  certainly  lost  to  art.  But,  after  all, 
why  should  he  not  be  a  success  in  the  Chamber  ?  He  speaks 
with  great  fluency,  and  seems  to  be  full  of  ideas.  Look  at 
Canalis  ;  when  he  won  his  election  :  '  Faugh  !  a  poet !  ' 
said  one  and  another,  which  has  not  prevented  his  making 
himself  famous  as  an  orator  and  being  made  minister." 

"Well,  the  first  point  is  to  get  elected,"  said  Emile 
9 


180  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

Blondet.     "What  place  does  Dorlange   think   of   standing 

for?" 

"  For  one  of  the  rotten  boroughs  of  the  '  National,'  of 
course,"  remarked  Bixiou.  "  However,  I  do  not  know  that 
the  place  is  yet  decided  on." 

"As  a  general  rule,"  said  the  "Debats"  man,  "to  be 
returned  as  member,  even  with  the  hottest  support  of  your 
party,  requires  a  somewhat  extensive  political  notoriety,  or, 
else,  at  least,  some  good  provincial  status  of  family  or  of 
fortune.  Does  any  one  know  whether  Dorlange  can  command 
these  elements  of  success?  " 

"  As  to  family  status,  that  would  be  a  particular  difficulty 
with  him ;  his  family  is  non-existent  to  a  desperate  extent." 

"  Indeed,"  said  Blondet.     "  Then  he  is  a  natural  son  ?  " 

"  As  natural  as  may  be — father  and  mother  alike  unknown. 
But  I  can  quite  imagine  his  being  elected ;  it  is  the  rank  and 
file  of  his  political  notions  that  will  be  so  truly  funny." 

"  He  must  be  a  republican  if  he  is  a  friend  of  the  gentle- 
men on  the  *  National,'  and  has  a  likeness  to  Danton." 

"  Evidently.  But  he  holds  his  fellow-believers  in  utter 
contempt,  and  says  that  they  are  good  for  nothing  but  fight- 
ing, rough  play,  and  big  talk.  So  provisionally  he  will  put  up 
with  a  monarchy  bolstered  up  by  republican  institutions — 
though  he  asserts  that  this  citizen-kingship  must  infallibly  be 
undermined  by  the  abuse  of  private  interest  which  he  calls 
corruption.  This  would  tempt  him  to  join  the  little  church 
of  the  Left  Centre ;  but  there  again — there  is  always  a  but — 
he  can  discern  nothing  but  a  coalition  of  ambitious  and  emas- 
culated men,  unconsciously  smoothing  the  way  to  a  revolution 
which  he  sees  already  on  the  horizon ;  to  his  great  regret, 
because  in  his  opinion  the  masses  are  neither  sufficiently  pre- 
pared nor  sufficiently  intelligent  to  keep  it  from  slipping 
through  their  fingers. 

"As  to  Legitimism,  he  laughs  at  it ;  he  will  not  accept  it 
as  a  principle  under  any  aspect.    He  regards  it  simply  as  a  more 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  A  J?  CIS.  131 

definite  and  time-honored  form  of  hereditary  monarchy,  allows 
it  no  other  superiority  than  that  of  old  wine  over  new.  And 
while  he  is  neither  Legitimist,  nor  Conservative,  nor  Left 
Centre,  but  a  republican  who  deprecates  a  republic,  he  stoutly 
sets  up  for  being  a  Cathcjiic  and  rides  the  hobby  of  that  party 
— freedom  in  teaching ;  and  yet  this  man,  who  wants  freedom 
in  teaching,  is,  on  the  other  hand,  afraid  of  the  Jesuits,  and 
still  talks,  as  if  we  were  in  1829,  of  the  encroachments  of  the 
priestly  party  and  the  Congregation. 

"And  can  you  imagine,  finally,  the  great  party  he  proposes 
to  form  in  the  Chamber — himself,  of  course,  its  leader  ?  That 
of  justice,  impartiality,  and  honesty :  as  if  anything  of  the 
kind  were  to  be  found  in  the  parliamentary  pottage,  or  as  if 
every  shade  of  opinion  had  not,  from  time  immemorial, 
flourished  that  flag  to  conceal  its  ugly  emptiness?" 

"  So  that  he  gives  up  sculpture  once  and  for  all?  "  said  Jo- 
seph Bridau. 

"  Not  immediately.  He  is  just  finishing  a  statue  of  some 
female  saint,  but  he  will  not  let  anybody  see  it,  and  does  not 
mean  to  exhibit  it  this  year.  He  has  notions  of  his  own  about 
that,  too." 

"  Which  are ?  "  asked  Emile  Blondet. 

"  That  religious  works  ought  not  to  be  displayed  to  the 
judgment  of  criticism  and  the  gaze  of  the  public  cankered  by 
skepticism  ;  that,  without  confronting  the  turmoil  of  the  world, 
they  ought  modestly  and  piously  to  take  the  place  for  which 
they  are  intended." 

"  Bless  me  !  "  exclaimed  Blondet.  "And  such  a  fervent 
Catholic  could  fight  a  duel?" 

**  Oh,  there  is  abetter  joke  than  that.  Catholic  as  he  is, 
he  lives  with  a  woman  he  brought  over  from  Italy,  a  sort  ot 
goddess  of  Liberty,  who  is  at  the  same  time  his  model  and  his 
housekeeper." 

"  What  a  gossip — what  a  regular  inquiry  office  that  Bixiou 
is  !  "  they  said,  as  they  divided. 


132  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

They  had  just  been  asked  by  Madame  de  Montcornet  to 
accept  a  cup  of  tea  from  her  fair  hands. 

As  you  see,  my  dear  sir,  M.  Dorlange's  political  aspirations 
are  not  regarded  very  seriously,  most  people  thinking  of  them 
very  much  as  I  do  myself.  I  cannot  doubt  that  you  will  write 
him  at  once  to  thank  him  for  his  zealous  intervention  to 
defend  you  against  calumny.  His  brave  devotion  has,  in  fact, 
filled  me  with  sympathy  for  him,  and  I  should  be  really  glad 
to  see  you  making  use  of  your  old  friendship  for  him  to  hinder 
him  from  embarking  on  the  thankless  tracks  he  is  so  eager  to 
tread.  I  am  not  guided  by  the  thought  of  the  drawbacks  at- 
tributed to  him  by  M.  Bixiou,  who  has  a  sharp  and  too  ready 
tongue  ;  like  Joseph  Bridau,  I  think  little  of  them  ;  but  a  mis- 
take that  every  one  must  regret,  in  my  opinion,  would  be  to 
abandon  a  career  in  which  he  has  already  won  a  high  position, 
to  rush  into  the  political  fray.  Sermonize  him  to  this  effect, 
and,  as  much  as  you  can,  induce  him  to  stick  to  Art.  In- 
deed, you  yourself  are  interested  in  his  doing  so  if  you  are 
still  bent  on  his  undertaking  the  work  he  has  so  far  refused  to 
accept. 

In  the  matter  of  the  personal  explanation  I  advised  you  to 
have  with  him,  I  may  tell  you  that  your  task  is  greatly  facili- 
tated. You  are  not  called  upon  to  enter  into  any  of  the  de- 
tails that  might  perhaps  be  too  painful.  Mme.  de  I'Estorade, 
to  whom  I  have  spoken  of  the  mediator's  part  I  proposed  that 
she  should  play,  accepts  it  with  pleasure,  and  undertakes  in 
half  an  hour's  conversation  to  dissipate  the  clouds  that  may 
still  hang  between  you  and  your  friend. 

While  writing  you  this  long  letter,  I  sent  to  inquire  for 
him :  the  report  is  as  good  as  possible,  and  the  surgeons  are 
not  in  the  least  uneasy  about  him,  unless  some  extraordinary 
and  quite  unforeseen  complications  should  supervene.  He  is, 
it  would  seem,  an  object  of  general  interest ;  for,  according  to 
my  servant,  people  are  standing  in  rows  waiting  to  put  their 
names  down. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCJS.  133 

There  is  this  also  to  be  said — M.  de  Rh6tore  is  not  liked. 
He  is  haughty,  starchy,  and  not  clever.  How  different  from 
her  who  dwells  in  in  our  dearest  memory  !  She  was  simple 
and  kind,  without  ever  losing  her  dignity,  and  nothing  could 
compare  with  the  amiatiility  of  her  temper,  unless  it  were  the 
brightness  of  her  wit. 

THE  COMTESSE  DE  l'eSTORADE  TO  MADAME  OCTAVE  DE  CAMPS. 

Paris,  February,  1 839. 

Nothing  could  be  better  than  all  you  have  written,  dear 
madarae :  it  was,  in  fact,  highly  probable  that  this  annoying 
person  would  not  think  twice  about  speaking  to  me  the  next 
time  we  should  meet.  His  heroism  gave  him  a  right  to  do 
so,  and  the  most  ordinary  politeness  made  it  incumbent  on 
him.  Unless  he  were  content  to  pass  for  the  clumsiest  of 
admirers,  he  could  not  help  asking  me  how  NaTs  and  I  had 
recovered  from  the  effects  of  the  accident  he  had  been  able  to 
forefend.  But  if,  contrary  to  all  expectations,  he  should  per- 
sist in  not  stepping  out  of  his  cloud,  I  was  fully  determined  to 
act  on  your  wise  advice.  If  the  mountain  did  not  come  to 
me,  I  would  go  to  the  mountain.  Like  "  Hippolyte  "  in 
Theraraene's  tale,  I  would  "thrust  myself  on  the  monster" 
and  fire  my  gratitude  in  his  teeth.  Like  you,  my  dear  friend, 
I  quite  understood  that  the  real  danger  of  this  persecution  lay 
in  its  continuance,  and  the  inevitable  explosion  that  threatened 
me  sooner  or  later ;  the  fact  that  the  servants,  or  the  children, 
might  at  any  moment  detect  the  secret ;  that  I  should  be 
exposed  to  the  most  odious  inferences  if  it  were  suspected  by 
others  ;  and,  above  all,  the  idea  that  if  this  ridiculous  mystery 
should  be  discovered  by  M.  de  I'Estorade  and  drive  him  to 
such  lengths  as  his  Southern  nature  and  past  experience  in  the 
army  made  me  imagine  only  too  easily — all  this  had  spurred 
me  to  a  point  I  cannot  describe,  and  I  might  have  gone  further 
even  than  you  advised.  I  had  not  only  recognized  the  neces- 
sity for  being  the  first  to  speak ;  but  under  the  pretext  that  my 


134  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS, 

husband  would  call  to  thank  him  under  his  own  roof,  I  meant 
to  compel  him  to  give  me  his  name  and  address,  and,  sup- 
posing he  were  at  all  a  possible  acquaintance,  to  invite  him 
forthwith  to  dinner,  and  thus  entice  the  wolf  into  the  sheep- 
fold. 

For,  after  all,  what  danger  could  there  be  ?  If  he  had  but 
a  shade  of  commonsense  when  he  saw  the  terms  I  live  on  with 
M.  de  I'Estorade,  and  my  "maniacal"  passion  for  my  chil- 
dren, as  you  call  it,  in  short,  the  calm  regularity  of  my  home- 
life,  would  he  not  understand  how  vain  was  his  pursuit  ?  At 
any  rate,  whether  he  should  persist  or  not,  his  vehemence 
would  have  lost  its  perilous  out-of-door  character.  If  I  was  to 
be  persecuted,  it  would,  at  any  rate,  be  under  my  own  roof, 
and  I  should  only  have  to  deal  with  one  of  those  common 
adventures  to  which  every  woman  is  more  or  less  liable.  And 
we  can  always  get  over  such  slippery  places  with  perfect  credit, 
so  long  as  v/e  have  a  real  sense  of  duty  and  some  little  presence 
of  mind. 

Not,  I  must  tell  you,  that  I  had  come  to  this  conclusion 
without  a  painful  effort.  When  the  critical  moment  should 
come,  I  was  not  at  all  sure  that  I  should  be  cool  enough  to 
confront  the  situation  with  such  a  high  hand  as  was  indis- 
pensable. However,  I  had  fully  made  up  my  mind  ;  and — 
you  know  me — what  I  have  determined  on  I  do. 

Well,  my  dear  madame,  all  this  fine  scheme,  all  my  elaborate 
courage,  and  your  not  less  elaborate  foresight,  are  entirely 
wasted.  Since  your  last  letter  the  doctor  has  let  me  out  of 
his  hands.  I  have  been  out  several  times,  always  majestically 
surrounded  by  my  children,  that  their  presence,  in  case  I 
should  be  obliged  to  take  the  initiative,  might  screen  the 
crudity  of  such  a  proceeding.  But  in  vain  have  I  scanned 
the  horizon  on  all  sides  out  of  the  corner  of  my  eye,  nothing, 
absolutely  nothing,  has  been  visible  that  bore  the  least  re- 
semblance to  a  deliverer  or  a  lover.  What,  now,  do  you  say 
to  this  new  state  of  affairs?    A  minute  since  I  spoke  of  thrust- 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  135 

ing  myself  on  the  monster.  How  was  I  to  interpret  this 
absence  ?  Had  he,  with  admirable  perspicacity,  scented  the 
snare  in  which  we  meant  to  entrap  him,  and  was  he  prudently 
keeping  out  of  the  way  ? 

But  if  this  were  sO,  he  would  be  really  a  man  to  think 
seriously  about ;  my  dear  M.  de  I'Estorade,  you  must  take 
care  of  yourself! 

You  see,  my  dear  friend,  I  am  trying  to  take  the  matter 
lightly,  but  in  my  heart  of  hearts  I  believe  that  I  sing  to 
keep  my  courage  up.  This  skillful  and  unexpected  strategy 
leaves  me  wondering. 

As  to  my  feeling  for  the  man,  you  will  not  misunderstand 
that.  He  saved  my  little  girl,  it  is  true,  but  merely  to  lay  me 
under  an  obligation.  He  is  ugly;  but  there  is  something 
vigorous  and  strongly  marked  about  him  which  leaves  an  im- 
pression on  the  mind ;  one  fancies  that  he  must  have  some 
powerful  and  dominating  characteristics.  So,  do  what  I  will, 
I  cannot  hinder  his  occupying  my  mind.  Now,  I  feel  as  if  I 
had  got  rid  of  him  altogether.  Well,  may  I  say  it  ?  I  am 
conscious  of  a  void.  I  miss  him  as  the  ear  misses  a  sharp  and 
piercing  sound  that  has  annoyed  it  for  a  long  time. 

What  I  am  going  to  add  will  strike  you  as  very  childish, 
but  can  we  control  the  mirage  of  our  fancy?  I  have  often 
told  you  of  my  discussions  with  Louise  de  Chaulieu  as  to  the 
way  in  which  women  should  deal  with  life.  For  my  part,  I 
always  told  her  that  the  frenzy  with  which  she  never  ceased 
to  seek  the  Infinite  was  quite  ill-regulated  and  fatal  to  happi- 
ness. And  she  would  answer  :  "You,  my  dearest,  have  never 
loved.  Love  implies  a  phenomenon  so  rare,  that  we  may 
live  all  our  life  without  meeting  the  being  on  whom  nature 
has  bestowed  the  faculty  of  giving  us  happiness.  If  on  some 
glorious  day  that  being  appears  to  wake  your  heart  from  its 
slumbers,  you  will  take  quite  another  tone." 

The  words  of  those  doomed  to  die  are  so  often  prophetic  ! 
Supposing  this  man  should  be  the  serpent,  though  late,  that 


186  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

Louise  seemed  to  threaten  me  with ;  good  heavens !  That 
he  should  ever  represent  a  real  danger,  that  he  should  ever  be 
able  to  tempt  me  from  my  duty,  there  is  certainly  no  fear.  I 
am  confidently  strong  as  to  any  such  extreme  of  ill.  I 
say  to  you,  as  Monsieur,  Louis  XIV. 's  brother,  said  to  his 
wife  when  he  brought  her  papers  he  had  just  written,  for  her 
to  decipher  them  :  "See  clearly  for  me,  dear  madame,  read 
my  heart  and  brain ;  disperse  the  mists,  allay  the  antagonistic 
impulses,  the  ebb  and  flow  of  will  which  these  events  have 
given  rise  to  in  my  mind."  Was  not  my  dear  Louise  mis- 
taken ?  Am  I  not  one  of  those  women  on  whom  love,  in  her 
sense,  has  no  hold?  The  "  Being  who  on  some  glorious  day 
awoke  my  heart  from  its  slumbers"  was  my  Armand — my 
Ren6 — my  NaTs,  three  angels  for  whom  and  in  whom  I  have 
hitherto  lived ;  and  for  me,  I  feel,  there  never  can  be  any 
other  passion. 

THE  COMTESSE  DE  l'eSTORADE  TO  MADAME  OCTAVE  DE  CAMPS. 

Paris,  March,  1839. 
In  about  the  year  tSzo,  two  "new  boys,"  to  use  my  son 
Armand's  technical  slang,  joined  the  school  at  Tours  in  the 
same  week.  One  had  a  charming  face  ;  the  other  might  have 
been  called  ugly,  but  that  health,  honesty,  and  intelligence 
beamed  in  his  features  and  made  up  for  their  homeliness  and 
irregularity.  And  here  you  will  stop  me,  dear  madame,  asking 
me  whether  I  have  quite  gotten  over  my  absorbing  idea,  that 
I  am  in  the  mood  to  write  you  a  chapter  of  a  novel  ?  Not  at 
all,  and  this  strange  beginning,  little  as  it  may  seem  so,  is 
only  the  continuation  and  sequel  of  my  adventure.  So  I  beg 
you  to  listen  to  my  tale  and  not  to  interrupt.  To  proceed : 
Almost  from  the  first,  the  two  boys  formed  a  close  friendship ; 
there  was  more  than  one  reason  for  their  intimacy.  One  of 
them — the  handsome  lad — was  dreamy,  thoughtful,  even  a 
little  sentimental ;  the  other  eager,  impetuous,  always  burning 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  137 

for  action.  Thus  their  two  characters  supplemented  each 
other — the  best  possible  combination  for  any  union  that  is  to 
prove  lasting.  Both,  too,  had  the  same  stain  on  their  birth. 
The  dreamy  boy  was  the  son  of  the  notorious  Lady  Dudley, 
born  in  adultery %lie  was  known  as  Marie-Gaston,  which  can 
hardly  be  called  a  name.  The  other,  whose  father  and  mother 
were  both  unknown,  was  called  Dorlange — which  is  not  a 
name  at  all.  Dorlange,  Valmon,  Volmar,  Derfeuil,  Melcourt, 
these  are  all  names  adopted  for  the  stage,  and  that  only  in  the 
old-fashioned  plays,  where  they  dwell  now  in  company  with 
Arnolphe,  Alceste,  Clitandre,  Damis,  Eraste,  Philinte,  and 
Arsinoe.  So  another  reason  why  these  unhappy  no-man's- 
sons  should  cling  together  for  warmth  was  the  cruel  desertion 
from  which  they  both  suffered.  During  the  seven  mortal  years 
of  their  life  at  school,  not  once  for  a  single  day,  even  in  holiday 
time,  did  the  prison  doors  open  to  let  them  out.  At  long  in- 
tervals Marie-Gaston  had  a  visitor  in  the  person  of  an  old 
nurse  who  had  served  his  mother.  Through  this  woman's 
hands  came  the  quarterly  payment  for  his  schooling. 

The  money  paid  for  Dorlange  came  with  perfect  regularity 
from  some  unknown  source  through  a  banker  at  Tours.  One 
thing  was  observed — that  this  youth's  weekly  allowance  was 
fixed  at  the  highest  sum  permitted  by  the  college  rules,  whence 
it  was  concluded  that  his  anonymous  parents  were  rich.  Owing 
to  this,  but  yet  more  to  the  generous  use  he  made  of  his  money, 
Dorlange  enjoyed  a  certain  degree  of  consideration  among  his 
companions,  though  he  could  in  any  case  have  commanded  it 
by  the  prowess  of  his  fist.  At  the  same  time,  it  was  remarked, 
but  not  loud  enough  for  him  to  hear,  that  no  one  had  ever 
asked  to  see  him  in  the  parlor,  nor  had  anybody  outside  the 
house  ever  taken  the  smallest  interest  in  him. 

And  the  two  boys  worked,  each  after  his  own  fashion.  At 
the  age  of  fifteen,  Marie-Gaston  had  produced  a  volume  of 
verse :  satires,  elegies,  meditations,  to  say  nothing  of  two 
tragedies.     As  for  Dorlange,  his  studies  led  him  to  steal  fire- 


138 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 


logs ;  out  of  these,  with  his  knife,  he  carved  virgins,  grotesques, 
schoolmasters  and  saints,  grenadiers,  and— in  secret— figures 
of  Napoleon. 

In  1827  their  school  days  ended  ;  the  friends  left  the  college 
of  Tours  together,  and  both  were  sent  to  Paris.  A  place  had 
already  been  secured  for  Dorlange  in  Bosio's  studio,  and 
thenceforward  a  certain  amount  of  caprice  was  discernible  in 
the  occult  Providence  that  watched  over  him.  On  arriving 
at  the  house  to  which  the  master  of  the  college  had  directed 
him  on  leaving,  he  found  pleasant  rooms  prettily  furnished  for 
him.  Under  the  glass  shade  over  the  clock  a  large  letter, 
addressed  to  him,  had  been  so  placed  as  to  strike  his  eye  at 
once.  Within  the  envelope  he  found  a  note  in  these  words— 
**The  day  after  your  arrival  in  Paris,  go,  at  eight  in  the 
morning  precisely,  to  the  garden  of  the  Luxembourg,  Allee 
de  rObservatoire,  the  fourth  bench  on  the  right-hand  side 
from  the  gate.  This  is  imperative.  Do  not  on  any  account 
fail." 

Dorlange  was  punctual,  as  may  be  supposed,  and  had  not 
waited  long  when  he  was  joined  by  a  little  man,  two  feet  high, 
who,  with  his  enormous  head  and  thick  mop  of  hair,  his 
hooked  nose  and  chin  and  crooked  legs,  might  have  stepped 
out  of  one  of  Hoffmann's  fairy  tales.  Without  a  word — for  to 
his  personal  advantages,  this  messenger  added  that  of  being 
deaf  and  dumb — he  placed  in  the  youth's  hands  a  letter  and  a 
purse.  The  letter  said  that  Dorlange's  family  were  much 
pleased  to  find  that  he  had  a  disposition  for  the  fine  arts.  He 
was  urged  to  work  hard  and  profit  by  the  teaching  of  the  great 
master  under  whose  tuition  he  was  placed.  He  would,  it  was 
hoped,  be  steady,  and  an  eye  would  be  kept  on  his  behavior. 
On  the  other  hand,  he  was  not  to  forego  the  rational  amuse- 
ments suited  to  his  age.  For  his  needs  and  his  pleasures  he 
might  count  on  a  sum  of  twenty-five  louis,  which  would  be 
paid  to  him  every  three  months  at  this  same  place,  by  the 
same  messenger.     With  regard  to  this  emissary,  Dorlange  was 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  1S9 

expressly  forbidden  to  follow  him  when  he  departed  after  ful- 
filling his  errand.  In  case  of  disobedience,  either  direct  or 
indirect,  the  penalty  was  serious — no  less,  in  fact,  than  the 
withdrawal  of  a^  assistance,  and  complete  desertion. 

Now,  my  deaf  friend,  do  you  remember  that  in  1831  I 
carried  you  off  to  the  Ecole  des  Beaux-Arts,  where,  at 
that  time,  the  exhibition  used  to  be  held  of  works  com- 
peting for  the  first  prize  in  sculpture?  The  subject  set  for 
the  competition  had  appealed  to  my  heart — Niobe  weeping 
over  her  children.  And  do  you  remember  my  fury  at  the 
work  sent  in  by  one  of  the  competitors,  round  which  there 
was  a  crowd  so  dense  that  we  could  scarcely  get  near  it  ?  The 
insolent  wretch  had  made  game  of  the  subject.  His  Niobe, 
indeed,  as  I  could  not  but  agree  with  you  and  the  public,  was 
most  touching  in  her  beauty  and  grief;  but  to  have  repre- 
sented her  children  as  so  many  monkeys,  lying  on  the  ground 
in  the  most  various  and  grotesque  attitudes — what  a  deplorable 
waste  of  talent !  It  was  in  vain  that  you  insisted  in  pointing  out 
how  charming  the  monkeys  were — graceful,  witty — and  that 
it  was  impossible  to  laugh  more  ingeniously  at  the  blindness 
and  idolatry  of  mothers  who  regard  some  hideous  brat  as  a 
masterpiece  of  Nature's  handiwork.  I  considered  the  thing  a 
monstrosity ;  and  the  indignation  of  the  older  academicians, 
who  demanded  the  solemn  erasure  of  this  impertinent  work 
from  the  list  of  competing  sculpture,  was,  in  my  opinion, 
wholly  justified.  Yielding,  however,  to  public  opinion  and 
to  the  papers,  which  spoke  of  raising  a  subscription  to  send 
the  sculptor  to  Rome  if  the  Grand  Prix^  were  given  to  any- 
body else,  the  Academy  did  not  agree  with  me  and  with  its 
elders.  The  remarkable  beauty  of  the  Niobe  outweighed  all 
else,  and  this  slanderer  of  mothers  found  his  work  crowned, 
though  he  had  to  take  a  pretty  severe  lecture  which  the  sec- 
retary was  desired  to  give  him  on  the  occasion.  Unhappy 
youth !  I  can  pity  him  now,  for  he  had  never  known  a 
*  First  Prize. 


140  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

mother.  He  was  Dorlange,  the  youth  abandoned  at  the 
school  at  Tours,  and  Marie-Gaston's  friend. 

For  four  years,  from  1827  till  1831,  when  Dorlange  was 
sent  to  Rome,  the  two  young  men  had  never  parted.  Dor- 
lange, with  his  allowance  of  two  thousand  four  hundred  francs, 
always  punctually  paid  by  the  hand  of  the  mysterious  dwarf, 
was  a  sort  of  Marquis  d'Aligre.  Marie-Gaston,  on  the  con- 
trary, if  left  to  his  own  resources,  wduld  have  lived  in  great 
penury ;  but  between  persons  who  truly  care  for  each  other,  a 
rarer  case  than  is  commonly  supposed,  on  one  side  plenty, 
and  on  the  other  nothing,  is  a  determining  cause  of  their 
alliance.  Without  keeping  any  score,  our  two  pigeons  had 
everything  in  common — home,  money,  troubles,  pleasures, 
and  hopes;  the  two  lived  but  one  life.  Unfortunately  for 
Marie-Gaston,  his  efforts  were  not,  like  his  friend's,  crowned 
with  success.  His  volume  of  verse,  carefully  recast  and  re- 
vised, with  other  poems  from  his  pen  and  two  or  three  dramas, 
all,  for  lack  of  good-will  on  the  part  of  stage-managers  and 
publishers,  remained  in  obscurity.  At  last  the  firm  of  two, 
by  Dorlange's  insistency,  took  strong  measures:  by  dint  of 
strict  economy,  the  needful  sum  was  saved  to  print  and  bring 
out  a  volume.  The  title — "  Snowdrops  " — was  attractive  ;  the 
binding  was  pearl-gray,  the  margins  broad,  and  there  was  a 
pretty  title-page  designed  by  Dorlange.  But  the  public  was 
as  indifferent  as  the  publishers  and  managers — it  would  neither 
buy  nor  read ;  so  much  so,  that  one  day  when  the  rent  was 
due,  Marie-Gaston,  in  a  fit  of  despair,  sent  for  an  old-book 
buyer,  and  sold  him  the  whole  edition  for  three  sous  a  volume, 
whence  a  perfect  crop  of  "Snowdrops"  was  ere  long  to  be 
seen  on  every  stall  along  the  quays  from  the  Pont  Royal  to 
the  Pont  Marie. 

This  wound  was  still  bleeding  in  the  poet's  soul  when  it 
became  necessary  for  Dorlange  to  set  out  for  Rome.  Life  in 
common  was  no  longer  possible.  Being  informed  by  the  mys- 
terious dwarf  that  his  allowance  would  be  paid  to  him  as  usual 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  141 

in  Rome,  through  Torlonia's  bank,  it  occurred  to  Dorlange  to 
offer  Marie-Gaston  the  fifteen  hundred  francs  a  year  granted 
him  on  the  royal  scholarship  for  the  five  years  while  he  should 
remain  in  Rome.  But  a  heart  noble  enough  to  receive  a  favor 
is  rarer  even  than  that  which  can  bestow  one.  Marie-Gaston, 
embittered  by  constant  reverses,  had  not  the  necessary  courage 
to  meet  this  sacrifice  half-way.  The  dissolution  of  partnership 
too  plainly  exposed  the  position  of  a  dependent  which  he  had 
hitherto  accepted.  Some  trifling  work  placed  in  his  hands  by 
the  great  writer  Daniel  d'Arthez  added  to  his  little  income 
would,  he  said,  be  enough  to  live  on,  and  he  peremptorily 
refused  what  his  pride  stigmatized  as  charity. 

Marie-Gaston's  poverty  increased  day  by  day ;  and  prompted 
by  inexorable  necessity,  he  had  drifted  into  a  most  painful 
position.  He  had  tried  to  release  himself  from  the  constant 
pinch  of  want,  which  paralyzed  his  flight,  by  staking  every- 
thing for  all  or  nothing.  He  imprudently  mixed  himself  up 
in  the  concerns  of  a  newspaper,  and  then,  to  obtain  a  ruling 
voice,  took  upon  himself  almost  all  the  expenses  of  the  under- 
taking. Thus  led  into  debt  for  a  sum  of  not  less  than  thirty 
thousand  francs,  he  saw  nothing  before  him  but  a  debtor's 
prison  opening  its  broad  jaws  to  devour  him. 

At  this  juncture  he  met  Louise  de  Chaulieu.  For  nine 
months,  the  blossoming  time  of  their  marriage,  Marie-Gaston's 
letters  were  few  and  far  between,  and  those  he  wrote  were 
high  treason  to  friendship.  Dorlange  ought  to  have  been  the 
first  person  told,  and  he  was  told  nothing.  That  most  high 
and  mighty  dame,  Louise  de  Chaulieu,  Baronne  de  Macumer, 
would  have  it  so.  When  the  day  of  the  marriage  arrived,  her 
passion  for  secrecy  had  reached  a  pitch  bordering  on  mania. 
I,  her  closest  friend,  was  scarcely  allowed  to  know  it,  and  no  one 
was  admitted  to  the  ceremony.  To  comply  with  the  require- 
ments of  the  law,  witnesses  were  indispensable;  but  at  the 
time  when  Marie-Gaston  invited  two  friends  to  do  him  this 
service,  he  announced  that  their  relations  must  be  finally  but 


142  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

amiably  put  an  end  to.  His  feelings  toward  everybody  but 
his  wife,  whom  he  exalted  to  a  pure  abstraction,  "  would  be," 
he  wrote  to  Daniel  d'Arthez,  "  friendship  independent  of  the 
friend." 

As  for  Louise,  she,  I  believe,  for  greater  security,  would 
have  had  the  witnesses  murdered  on  leaving  the  mairie,  but 
for  a  wholesome  fear  of  the  public  prosecutor ! 

In  1836,  when  the  sculptor  came  back  from  Rome,  the 
sequestration  of  Marie-Gaston  was  closer  and  more  unrelaxing 
than  ever.  Dorlange  had  too  much  spirit  to  steal  or  force  his 
way  into  the  sanctuary  where  Louise  had  sheltered  her  crazy 
passion,  and  Marie-Gaston  was  too  desperately  in  love  to 
break  the  spell  and  escape  from  Arminda's  garden.  The 
friends,  incredible  as  it  must  seem,  never  met,  nor  even  ex- 
changed notes.  Still,  on  hearing  of  Madame  Marie-Gaston's 
death,  Dorlange  forgot  every  slight  and  rushed  off  to  Ville- 
d'Avray  to  offer  what  consolation  he  might.  Vain  devotion. 
Within  two  hours  of  the  melancholy  ceremony,  Marie-Gaston 
was  in  a  post-chaise  flying  south  to  Italy,  with  no  thought  for 
his  friend,  or  a  sister-in-law  and  two  nephews,  who  were 
dependent  on  him.  Dorlange  thought  this  selfishness  of  grief 
rather  too  much  to  be  borne ;  and  he  eradicated  from  his 
heart,  as  he  believed,  the  last  remembrance  of  a  friendship 
which  even  the  breath  of  sorrow  had  not  revived. 

A  few  weeks  since,  his  sorrow,  still  living  and  acute,  sug- 
gested an  idea  to  his  mind.  In  the  middle  of  the  park  at 
Ville-d'Avray  there  is  a  small  lake,  and  in  the  middle  of  the 
lake  an  island  of  which  Louise  was  very  fond.  To  this  island, 
a  calm  and  shady  retreat,  Marie-Gaston  wished  to  transfer  his 
wife's  remains,  and  he  wrote  us  from  Carrara  to  this  effect. 
And  then,  remembering  Dorlange,  he  begged  my  husband  to 
call  on  him  and  inquire  whether  he  would  undertake  to  exe- 
cute a  monument.  Dorlange  at  first  affected  not  even  to 
remember  Marie-Gaston's  name,  and  under  a  civil  pretext 
refused  the  commission. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  143 

But  here  comes  a  startling  instance  of  the  strength  of  old 
association  in  an  affectionate  nature.  On  the  evening  of  the 
day  when  he  had  shown  out  M.  de  I'Estorade,  being  at  the 
opera,  he  overheard  the  Due  de  Rhetore  speak  slightingly 
of  his  old  friend^and  took  the  matter  up  with  eager  indigna- 
tion. Hence  a  duel,  in  which  he  was  wounded — and  of 
which  the  news  must  certainly  have  reached  you;  so  here  is  a 
man  risking  his  life  for  an  absentee  whom  he  had  strenuously 
denied  in  the  morning. 

THE  COMTESSE   DE  l'eSTORADE  TO   MADAME  OCTAVE  DE   CAMPS. 

Paris,  March,  1839. 

I  derived  the  main  facts  of  the  long  biographical  notice  I 
sent  you,  my  dear  friend,  from  a  recent  letter  written  by  M. 
Marie-Gaston.  On  hearing  of  the  heroic  devotion  of  which 
he  had  been  the  object,  his  first  impulse  was  to  hasten  to 
Paris  and  see  the  friend  who  had  made  such  a  noble  return 
for  his  faithlessness.  Unluckily,  the  day  before  he  should 
have  started,  a  painful  hindrance  interfered.  By  a  singular 
coincidence,  while  M.  Dorlange  was  wounded  in  his  behalf  in 
Paris,  he  himself,  visiting  Savarezza — one  of  the  finest  marble 
quarries  that  are  worked  at  Carrara — had  a  bad  fall  and 
sprained  his  leg.  Being  obliged  to  put  off  his  journey,  he 
wrote  to  M.  Dorlange  from  his  bed  of  suffering  to  express  his 
gratitude. 

By  the  same  mail  I  also  received  a  voluminous  letter:  M. 
Marie-Gaston,  after  telling  me  all  the  past  history  of  their 
friendship,  begged  me  to  call  on  his  old  schoolfellow  and 
advocate  his  cause.  In  point  of  fact,  he  could  not  be  satis- 
fied with  this  convincing  proof  of  the  place  he  still  held  in 
M.  Dorlange's  affections.  What  he  desires  is  to  prove  that, 
in  spite  of  evidence  to  the  contrary,  he  has  never  ceased  to 
deserve  it.  This  is  a  matter  of  some  little  difficulty,  because 
he  would  not  on  any  account  consent  to  attribute  the  blame 


144  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

to  the  real  author  of  the  mischief.  This,  however,  is  the 
whole  secret  of  his  conduct  to  M.  Dorlange.  His  wife  was 
bent  on  having  him  entirely  to  herself,  and  insisted,  with 
extraordinary  perversity,  on  uprooting  every  other  feeling. 
But  nothing  would  persuade  him  to  admit  this,  or  the  sort  of 
moral  mediocrity  which  such  ill-regulated  and  frenzied  jeal- 
ousy denotes. 

My  first  idea,  to  this  end,  was  to  write  a  note  to  his  friend 
the  sculptor  and  beg  him  to  call  on  me.  But,  on  second 
thoughts,  he  has  hardly  yet  got  over  his  wound,  and  beside, 
this  kind  of  convocation  with  a  definite  object  in  view  would 
give  an  absurd  solemnity  to  my  part  as  a  go-between.  I 
thought  of  another  plan.  Anybody  may  visit  an  artist's 
studio :  without  any  preliminary  announcement  I  could  call 
on  M.  Dorlange  with  my  husband  and  NaTs,  under  pretense 
of  reiterating  the  request  already  put  to  him  to  give  us  the 
benefit  of  his  assistance.  And  by  seeming  to  bring  my  femi- 
nine influence  to  bear  on  this  matter,  I  had  a  bridge  ready 
made  to  lead  me  to  the  true  point  of  my  visit. 

So,  on  the  day  after  I  had  come  to  this  happy  conclusion, 
I  and  my  escort  found  our  way  to  a  pleasant  little  house  in 
the  Rue  de  I'Ouest,  behind  the  gardens  of  the  Luxembourg, 
one  of  the  quietest  parts  of  Paris.  In  the  vestibule  and  pas- 
sages, fragments  of  sculpture,  bas-reliefs,  and  inscriptions, 
nicely  arranged  against  the  walls,  showed  the  owner's  good 
taste  and  betrayed  his  habitual  interests. 

We  were  met  on  the  steps  by  a  woman  to  whom  M.  de 
I'Estorade  has  already  alluded.  The  student  from  Rome,  it 
would  seem,  could  not  come  away  from  Italy  without  bringing 
some  souvenir.  This  beautiful  Italian,  a  sort  of  middle-class 
Galatea,  sometimes  housekeeper  and  sometimes  a  model,  repre- 
senting at  once  Home  and  Art,  fulfills  in  M.  Dorlange's 
household — if  scandal  is  to  be  trusted — the  most  perfect  ideal 
of  the  *'  woroan-of-all-work  "  so  constantly  advertised  in  news- 
papers. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR   ARCIS.  145 

While  this  handsome  housekeeper  announced  M.  le  Comte 
and  Mme.  la  Comtesse  de  TEstorade,  M.  Dorlange,  in  a 
picturesque  studio  jacket,  having  his  back  to  us,  hastily  drew 
a  green  baize  curtain  in  front  of  the  statue  he  was  working  on. 

The  instant  he  turned  round,  before  I  had  had  time  to  be- 
lieve my  eyes,  imagine  my  astonishment  at  seeing  NaVs  rush 
up  to  him  and  almost  into  his  arms,  exclaiming  with  childish 
glee— 

"  Oh  !  you  are  the  gentleman  who  saved  me  !  " 

What — the  gentleman  who  had  saved  her  ?  Why,  then,  M. 
Dorlange  must  be  that  much-talked-of  Unknown  ? 

Now  you  say : 

"  And  you,  my  dear  countess,  rushing  thus  into  his  studio 
like ?" 

My  dear  madame,  don't  speak  of  it !  Startled,  trembling, 
red  and  white  by  turns,  I  must  for  a  moment  have  looked  an 
image  of  awkward  confusion. 

Happily,  my  husband  launched  at  once  into  elaborate  com- 
pliments as  a  happy  and  grateful  father.  I,  meanwhile,  had 
time  to  recover  myself;  and  when  it  came  to  my  turn  to  speak, 
I  had  composed  my  features  to  one  of  my  finest  expressions 
a  V Estorade,  as  you  choose  to  call  them ;  I  then,  as  you 
know,  register  twenty-five  degrees  below  zero,  and  should 
freeze  the  words  on  the  lips  of  the  most  ardent  adorer. 

"Madame,"  said  the  sculptor,  "since  we  are  better  ac- 
quainted than  we  had  any  reason  to  suppose,  may  I  be  per- 
mitted to  indulge  my  curiosity ?" 

I  fancied  I  felt  the  cat's  claw  extended  to  play  with  the 
mouse,  so  I  replied : 

"  Artists,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  are  sometimes  very  indis- 
creetly curious " 

And  I  emphasized  my  meaning  with  a  marked  severity 
which  I  hoped  would  give  it  point.  But  my  man  was  not 
abashed. 

*'  I  hope  that  will  not  prove  to  be  the  case  with  my  in- 
10 


146  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

quiry,"  said  he.  **I  only  wanted  to  know  if  you  have  a 
sister?" 

"Well  done,"  thought  I.  "A  way  out  of  the  difficulty! 
The  game  he  means  to  play  is  to  ascribe  his  persistent  perse- 
cution to  some  fancied  resemblance." 

But  though  I  should  very  willingly  have  given  him  that 
loophole  in  M.  de  I'Estorade's  presence,  I  was  not  free  to  tell 
him  a  lie. 

"  No,  monsieur,"  replied  I,  "  I  have  no  sister — at  any  rate, 
not  to  my  knowledge." 

And  I  said  it  with  an  air  of  superior  cunning  so  as  to  make 
sure  of  not  being  taken  for  a  dupe. 

"At  any  rate,"  said  M.  Dorlange,  "it  was  not  impossible 
that  my  idea  was  a  true  one.  The  family,  among  whom  I 
once  met  a  lady  strikingly  like  you,  is  involved  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  mystery  which  allows  every  possible  hypothesis." 

"And  am  I  indiscreet  in  asking  their  name  ?  " 

"  Not  in  the  least.  They  are  people  you  may  perhaps  have 
known  in  Paris  in  1829-30.  They  kept  house  in  great  style, 
and  entertained  magnificently.     I  met  them  in  Italy." 

"  But  their  name?"  said  I,  with  a  determination  that  was 
not  prompted,  I  own,  by  any  charitable  motive. 

"Lanty,"*  said  M.  Dorlange,  without  any  hesitation  or 
embarrassment. 

There  was,  in  fact,  a  family  of  that  name  in  Paris  before  I 
came  to  live  here,  and  you,  like  me,  may  remember  hearing 
some  strange  tales  about  them. 

As  he  answered  the  question,  the  sculptor  went  up  to  the 
veiled  statue. 

"  I  have  taken  the  liberty,  madame,  of  giving  you  the  sister 
you  never  had,"  he  said,  rather  abruptly,  "and  I  make  so 
bold  as  to  ask  you  if  you  do  not  yourself  discern  a  family 
likeness?" 

At  the  same  time  he  pulled  away  the  baize  which  hid  the 
*  Vide  "  Sarrasine." 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  147 

work,  and  then,  my  dear  madame,  I  beheld  myself,  in  the 
guise  of  a  saint,  crowned  with  a  glory.  How,  I  ask  you, 
could  I  be  angry?  On  seeing  the  startling  likeness  that 
really  stared  them  in  the  face,  my  husband  and  Na'is  exclaimed 
with  admiration,    *-• 

As  for  M.  Dorlange,  he  proceeded  without  delay  to  explain 
this  rather  dramatic  surprise. 

**  This  statue,  "  said  he,  "  is  a  Sainte-Ursule,  a  commission 
from  a  convent  in  the  country.  In  consequence  of  circum- 
stances too  long  to  relate,  the  features  of  the  young  lady  I 
mentioned  just  now  remain  deeply  stamped  on  my  memory. 
I  began,  therefore,  to  model  it  from  memory ;  but  one  day, 
madame,  in  the  church  of  St.  Thomas-d'Aquin,  I  saw  you, 
and  I  was  so  superstitious  as  to  believe  that  Providence  had 
sent  you  to  me  as  a  duplicate  for  my  benefit.  From  that  time 
you  were  the  model  from  which  I  worked  ;  and  as  I  could  not 
think  of  asking  you  to  come  and  sit  to  me  in  my  studio,  I 
availed  myself,  as  far  as  possible,  of  every  chance  of  meeting 
you.  If  by  any  mischance  you  had  happened  to  notice  my 
persistency  in  crossing  your  path,  you  would  have  taken  me 
for  one  of  those  idlers  who  hang  about  in  hope  of  an  adven- 
ture, and  I  was  nothing  worse  than  a  conscientious  artist, 
prenant  son  Men  ou  il  le  irouve,  like  Moliere,  making  the  most 
of  my  chances,  and  trying  to  find  inspiration  in  Nature  alone, 
which  always  gives  the  best  results." 

"Oh,  I  had  noticed  you  following  us,"  said  Na'is,  with  an 
all-knowing  air. 

Children  !  my  dear  madame — does  any  one  understand 
them  ?  Na'is  had  seen  all ;  at  the  time  of  her  accident  it 
would  have  been  natural  that  she  should  say  something  to  her 
father  or  to  me  about  this  gentleman,  whose  constant  presence 
had  not  escaped  her  notice — and  yet,  not  a  word.  Brought 
up  as  she  has  been  by  me  with  such  constant  care,  and  hardly 
ever  out  of  my  sight,  I  am  absolutely  certain  of  her  perfect 
innocence.     Then  it  must  be  supposed  that  Nature  alone  can 


148  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

give  a  little  girl  of  thirteen  an  instinctive  knowledge  of  cer- 
tain secrets.     Is  it  not  terrible  to  think  of? 

But  husbands  !  my  dear  madame,  husbands  are  what  are 
so  truly  appalling  when,  at  unexpected  moments,  we  find 
them  abandoned  to  a  sort  of  blind  predestination.  Mine,  for 
instance,  as  it  seems  to  me,  ought  to  have  pricked  up  his  ears 
as  he  heard  this  gentleman  describe  how  he  had  dared  to  take 
me  for  his  model.  M.  de  I'Estorade  is  not  considered  a  fool ; 
on  all  occasions  he  has  a  strong  sense  of  the  proprieties ;  and 
if  ever  I  should  give  the  least  cause,  I  believe  him  capable  of 
being  ridiculously  jealous.  And  yet,  seeing  his  "belle  Renee," 
as  he  calls  me,  embodied  in  white  marble  as  a  saint,  threw 
him,  as  it  seems,  into  such  a  state  of  admiration  as  altered 
him  out  of  all  knowledge  ! 

He  and  NaTs  were  wholly  absorbed  in  verifying  the  fidelity 
of  the  copy ;  that  was  quite  my  attitude,  quite  my  eyes,  my 
mouth,  the  dimples  in  ray  cheeks.  In  short,  I  found  that  I 
must  take  upon  myself  the  part  which  M.  de  I'Estorade  had 
quite  forgotten,  so  I  said  very  gravely  to  this  audacious  artist — 

"  Does  it  not  occur  to  you,  monsieur,  that  thus  to  appro- 
priate without  leave — in  short,  to  put  it  plainly,  thus  to  steal 
a  stranger's  features — might  strike  her,  or  him,  as  a  rather 
strange  proceeding  ?  " 

"Indeed,  madame,"  replied  he,  very  respectfully,  "my 
fraudulent  conduct  would  never  have  gone  beyond  the  point 
you  yourself  might  have  sanctioned.  Though  my  statue  is 
doomed  to  be  buried  in  a  chapel  for  nuns,  I  should  not  have 
dispatched  it  without  obtaining  your  permission  to  leave  it  as 
it  was.  I  could,  when  necessary,  have  ascertained  your  ad- 
dress ;  and  while  confessing  the  fascination  to  which  I  had 
succumbed,  I  should  have  requested  you  to  come  to  see  the 
work.  Then,  when  you  saw  it,  if  a  too  exact  likeness  should 
have  offended  you,  I  would  have  said  what  I  now  say :  with  a 
few  strokes  of  the  chisel  I  will  undertake  to  mislead  the  most 
practiced  eye." 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  149 

Diminish  the  resemblance !  That  was  no  part  of  the  pro- 
gramme !  My  husband,  apparently,  did  not  think  it  close 
enough,  for  at  this  moment  he  turned  to  M.  Dorlange  to  say, 
with  beatific  blandness — 

"  Do  not  you  thT»-k,  monsieur,  that  Madame  de  I'Estorade's 
nose  is  just  a  little  thinner  ?  " 

Thoroughly  upset  as  I  was  by  these  unforeseen  incidents,  I 
should,  I  fear,  have  pleaded  badly  for  M.  Marie- Gaston ;  how- 
ever, at  my  very  first  allusion  to  the  subject — 

"I  know,"  said  M.  Dorlange,  "all  you  could  say  in  de- 
fense of  the  'faithless  one.'  I  do  not  forgive,  but  I  will 
forget.  As  things  have  turned  out,  I  was  within  an  ace  of 
being  killed  for  his  sake,  and  it  would  be  really  too  illogical 
to  owe  him  now  a  grudge  on  old  scores.  Still,  as  regards  the 
monument  at  Ville-d'Avray,  nothing  will  induce  me  to  under- 
take it.  As  I  have  already  explained  to  M.  de  I'Estorade, 
there  is  an  obstacle  in  the  way  which  grows  more  definite 
every  day ;  I  also  consider  it  contemptible  in  Marie-Gaston 
that  he  should  persist  in  chewing  the  cud  of  his  grief,  and  I 
have  written  him  to  that  effect.  He  must  show  himself  a 
man,  and  seek  such  consolation  as  may  always  be  found  in 
study  and  work." 

The  object  of  my  visit  was  at  an  end,  and  for  the  moment  I 
had  no  hope  of  penetrating  the  dark  places,  on  which,  how- 
ever, I  must  throw  some  light.  As  I  rose  to  leave,  M.  Dor- 
lange said — 

"  May  I  hope,  then,  that  you  will  not  insist  on  any  too 
serious  disfigurement  of  my  statue?" 

"  It  is  my  husband  rather  than  I  who  must  answer  that 
question.  We  can  reopen  it  on  another  occasion,  for  M.  de 
I'Estorade  hopes  you  will  do  us  the  honor  to  return  this  call." 

M.  Dorlange  bowed  respectful  acquiescence,  and  we  came 
away.  As  he  saw  us  to  the  carriage,  not  venturing  to  offer  me 
his  arm,  I  happened  to  turn  round  to  call  Nais,  who  was 
rashly  going  up  to  a  Pyrenean  dog  that  lay  in  the  forecourt. 


150  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

I  then  perceived  the  handsome  housekeeper  behind  a  window- 
curtain,  eagerly  watching  me.  Finding  herself  caught  in  the 
act,  she  dropped  the  curtain  with  evident  annoyance. 

"Well,"  thought  I,  "now  this  woman  is  jealous  of  me! 
Is  she  afraid,  I  wonder,  that  I  may  become  her  rival,  at  least 
as  a  model?" 

In  fact,  I  came  away  in  a  perfectly  vile  temper.  I  was 
furious  with  NaTs  and  with  my  husband.  I  could  have  given 
him  the  benefit  of  a  scene  of  which  he  certainly  could  have 
made  neither  head  nor  tail. 

Now,  what  do  you  think  of  it  all  ?  Is  this  man  one  of  the 
cleverest  rogues  alive,  who  all  in  a  moment,  to  get  himself 
out  of  a  scrape,  could  invent  the  most  plausible  fiction  ?  Or 
is  he,  indeed,  an  artist  and  nothing  but  an  artist,  who  artlessly 
regarded  me  as  the  living  embodiment  of  his  ideal  ? 

THE  COMTESSE  DE  l'eSTORADE  TO  MADAME  OCTAVE   DE   CAMPS. 

Paris,  March,  1839. 

Dear  Madame: — M.  Dorlange  dined  with  us  yesterday. 
My  own  notion  had  been  to  receive  him  en  famille,  so  as  to 
have  him  under  my  eye  and  catechise  him  at  my  ease. 
But  M.  de  I'Estorade,  to  whom  I  did  not  communicate  my 
disinterested  purpose,  pointed  out  that  such  an  invitation,  to 
meet  nobody,  might  be  taken  amiss. 

"We  cannot  treat  him,"  my  husband  smilingly  added, 
"as  if  he  were  one  of  our  farmers'  sons  who  came  to  display 
his  sub-lieutenant's  Epaulette,  and  whom  we  should  invite 
quite  by  himself  because  we  could  not  send  him  to  the 
kitchen." 

So  to  meet  our  principal  guest,  we  asked  M.  Joseph  Bridau, 
the  painter;  the  Chevalier  d'Espard,  M.  and  Mme.  de  la 
Bastie,  and  M.  de  Ronquerolles.  When  inviting  this  last  gentle- 
man, my  husband  took  care  to  ask  him  whether  he  would 
object  to  meeting  M.  de  Rhetore's  adversary — for  you  know, 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  151 

no  doubt,  that  the  duke  chose  for  his  seconds  in  the  duel 
General  de  Montriveau  and  M.  de  Ronquerolles. 

"Far  from  objecting,"  he  replied,  "I  am  delighted  to 
seize  an  opportunity  of  improving  my  acquaintance  with  a 
clever  man,  whose  conduct  in  the  affair  in  which  we  were 
concerned  was  in  all  respects  admirable." 

And  when  my  husband  told  him  of  the  obligation  we  owe 
to  M.  Dorlange — 

"  Why,  the  artist  is  a  hero  !  "  he  exclaimed.  **If  he  goes 
on  as  he  has  begun,  we  shall  not  be  able  to  reach  to  his 
knees." 

In  his  studio,  with  his  throat  bare  so  as  to  give  freedom  to 
his  head,  which  is  a  little  large  for  his  body,  and  dressed  in  a 
most  becoming  loose  Oriental  sort  of  garment,  M.  Dorlange 
was  certainly  better  looking  than  in  ordinary  evening  dress. 
At  the  same  time,  when  he  is  talking  with  animation,  his  face 
lights  up,  and  then  his  eyes  seem  to  pour  out  a  tide  of  that 
magnetic  fluid  of  which  I  had  been  conscious  at  our  previous 
meetings.     Mme.  de  la  Bastie  was  no  less  struck  by  it. 

I  forget  whether  I  told  you  of  the  object  of  M.  Dorlange's 
ambition  :  he  proposes  to  come  forward  as  a  candidate  on  the 
occasion  of  the  next  elections.  This  was  his  reason  for  de- 
clining the  commission  offered  him  by  my  husband  as  repre- 
senting M,  Marie-Gaston.  Politics,  in  fact,  are  an  absorbing 
and  dominating  passion  which  can  scarcely  allow  a  second  to 
flourish  by  its  side.  Nevertheless,  I  was  bent  on  studying  the 
situation  to  the  bottom,  and  after  dinner  I  insidiously  drew 
my  gentleman  into  one  of  those  tite-a-Ute  chats  which  the 
mistress  of  a  house  can  generally  arrange.  After  speaking  of 
M.  Marie-Gaston,  our  friend  in  common,  of  my  dear  Louise's 
crazy  flights,  and  my  own  constant  but  useless  attempts  to 
moderate  them,  after  giving  him  every  opportunity  and  facility 
for  opening  the  battle,  I  asked  him  whether  his  Sainte-Ursule 
was  to  be  sent  off"  soon. 

"It  is  quite  ready  to  start,   madame,"  said  he,     "But  I 


152  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

wait  for  your  permission,  your  exeat;  for  you  to  tell  me,  in 
short,  whether  or  not  I  am  to  alter  anything  in  the  face." 

"  First  tell  me  this,"  replied  I.  "  Supposing  I  were  to  wish 
for  any  alteration,  would  such  a  change  greatly  injure  the 
statue?" 

"It  probably  would.  However  little  you  clip  a  bird's 
wings,  it  is  always  checked  in  its  flight." 

**One  more  question.  Is  your  statue  most  like  me  or  the 
other  woman?" 

"You,  madame,  I  need  hardly  say.  You  are  the  present; 
she  is  the  past." 

"  But  to  throw  over  the  past  in  favor  of  the  present  is  called, 
as  you  doubtless  are  aware,  monsieur,  by  an  ugly  name.  And 
you  confess  to  this  evil  tendency  with  a  frank  readiness  that 
is  really  quite  startling." 

"It  is  true  that  art  can  be  brutal,"  said  M.  Dorlange, 
laughing.  "Wherever  it  may  find  the  raw  material  of  a 
creation,  it  rushes  on  it  with  frenzy." 

"Art,"  said  I,  "is  a  big  word,  under  which  a  world  of 
things  find  refuge !  The  other  day  you  told  me  that  circum- 
stances, too  long  to  be  related,  had  contributed  to  stamp  on 
your  mind,  as  a  constant  presence,  the  features  of  which  mine 
are  a  reflection,  and  which  have  left  such  an  impression  on 
your  memory.  Was  not  this  saying  pretty  plainly  that  it  was 
not  the  sculptor  alone  who  remembered  them? " 

"  Indeed,  madame,  I  had  not  time  to  explain  myself  more 
fully.  And  in  any  case,  on  seeing  you  for  the  first  time, 
would  you  not  have  thought  it  extraordinary  if  I  had  assumed 
a  confidential  tone? " 

"But  now?  "  said  I  audaciously. 

"Even  now,  unless  under  very  express  encouragement,  I 
should  find  it  hard  to  persuade  myself  that  anything  in  my 
past  life  could  have  a  special  interest  for  you." 

"But  why  so?  Some  acquaintances  ripen  quickly.  Your 
devotion  to  my  Nais  is  a  long  step  forward  in  ours.     Beside," 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  153 

I  added  with  affected  giddiness,  "I  love  a  story  beyond  all 
things." 

"Beside  the  fact  that  mine  has  no  end,  it  has,  even  to  me, 
remained  a  mystery." 

"All  the  moreTeason Between  us,  perhaps,  we  may 

be  able  to  solve  it." 

M.  Dorlange  seemed  to  consider  the  matter ;  then,  after  a 
short  silence,  he  said — 

"It  is  very  true;  women  are  clever  in  discerning  faint 
traces  in  facts  or  feelings  where  we  men  can  detect  none. 
But  this  revelation  does  not  involve  myself  alone,  and  I  must 
be  allowed  to  beg  that  it  remain  absolutely  between  ourselves. 
I  do  not  except  even  M.  de  I'Estorade ;  a  secret  ceases  to  exist 
when  once  it  goes  beyond  the  speaker  and  the  recipient." 

"  M.  de  I'Estorade,"  said  I,  "is  so  little  accustomed  to 
hear  everything  from  me,  that  he  never  saw  a  single  line  of 
my  correspondence  with  Madame  Marie-Gaston." 

At  the  same  time  I  made  a  mental  reservation  with  refer- 
ence to  you,  my  dear  friend;  for  are  you  not  the  keeper  of 
my  conscience?  And  to  a  confessor  one  must  confess  all,  if 
one  is  to  be  judiciously  advised. 

Till  now  M.  Dorlange  had  been  standing  in  front  of  the 
fireplace,  while  I  sat  at  the  corner".  He  now  took  a  chair 
close  to  me,  and  by  way  of  preamble  he  said : 

"I  spoke  to  you,  madame,  of  the  Lanty  family " 

At  this  instant  Mme.  de  la  Bastie,  as  provoking  as  a  shower 
at  a  picnic,  came  up  to  ask  me  whether  I  had  seen  Nathan's 
new  play  ?  Much  I  cared  for  anybody  else's  comedy  when 
absorbed  in  this  drama,  in  which  it  would  seem  I  had  played 
a  pretty  lively  part !  However,  M.  Dorlange  was  obliged  to 
give  up  his  seat  by  me,  and  it  was  impossible  to  have  him  to 
myself  any  more  that  evening. 

Nor,  in  fact,  is  there  anything  in  this  interrupted  tale  to 
suggest  that  love  played  the  part  I  had  insinuated.  There  are 
plenty  more  ways  of  stamping  a  personality  on  one's  memory  j 


154  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

and  if  M.  Dorlange  did  not  love  the  woman  of  whom  I  re- 
minded him,  what  grudge  can  he  have  against  me  who  am  but 
a  sort  of  second  edition  ?  Nor  must  we  overlook  that  very 
handsome  housekeeper ;  for,  granting  that  she  is  but  a  habit, 
adopted  for  reasons  of  commonsense  rather  than  of  passion, 
the  woman  must  still  be,  at  any  rate  in  some  degree,  a  fence 
against  me.  Consequently,  dear  madame,  all  the  alarms  I 
have  dinned  into  your  ears  would  be  ridiculous  indeed;  I 
should  somewhat  resemble  Belise  in  "  Les  Femmes  Savantes," 
who  is  haunted  by  the  idea  that  every  one  who  sees  her  must 
fall  in  love  with  her. 

But  I  should  be  only  too  glad  to  come  to  this  dull  con- 
clusion. 

Lover  or  not,  M.  Dorlange  is  a  man  of  high  spirit  and  re- 
markable powers  of  mind ;  if  he  does  not  put  himself  out  of 
court  by  any  foolish  aspirations,  it  will  be  an  honor  and  a 
pleasure  to  place  him  on  our  list  of  friends.  The  service  he 
did  us  predestines  him  to  this,  and  I  should  really  be  sorry  to 
seem  hard  on  him.  In  that  case,  indeed,  NaTs  would  quar- 
rel with  me,  for  she  very  naturally  thinks  everything  of  her 
rescuer. 

In  the  evening,  when  he  had  left — 

"Mamma,  how  well  M.  Dorlange  talks  !  "  said  she,  with  a 
most  amusing  air  of  approval. 

Speaking  of  NaTs,  this  is  the  explanation  she  gives  of  the 
reserve  that  disturbed  me  so  much. 

"Well,  mamma,"  said  she,  "I  supposed  that  you  would 
have  seen  him  too.  But  after  he  stopped  the  horses,  as  you 
did  not  seem  to  know  him,  and  as  he  is  rather  common-look- 
ing, I  fancied  he  was  a  man " 

"  A  man — what  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"Why,  yes;  the  sort  of  man  of  which  one  takes  no  notice; 
but  how  glad  I  was  when  I  found  that  he  was  a  gentleman  ! 
You  heard  me  exclaim :  '  Why,  you  are  the  gentleman  who  saved 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  155 

Though  her  innocence  is  perfect,  there  is  in  this  explana- 
tion an  ugly  streak  of  pride,  on  which,  you  may  be  sure,  I 
delivered  a  fine  lecture.  This  distinction  between  the  man 
and  the  gentleman  is  atrocious ;  but,  on  the  whole,  was  not 
the  child  in  the  "Vight?  But  if  I  carry  my  criticism  any 
further,  you  will  be  telling  me  to  beware,  for  that  I  am  al- 
ready catching  it  from  M.  Dorlange. 

THE  COMTESSE  DE  l'eSTORADE   TO  MADAME  OCTAVE  DE  CAMPS. 

Paris,  April,  1839. 

For  nearly  a  fortnight,  my  dear  madame,  we  heard  no  more 
of  M.  Dorlange.  Not  only  did  he  not  think  proper  to  come 
and  reopen  the  confidences  so  provokingly  interrupted  by 
Madame  de  la  Bastie,  but  he  did  not  seem  aware  that,  after 
dining  with  anybody,  a  card,  at  least,  is  due  within  the 
week. 

Yesterday  morning  we  were  at  breakfast,  and  I  had  just 
made  a  remark  to  this  eflfect,  without  bitterness,  and  merely 
by  way  of  conversation,  when  Lucas,  who,  as  an  old  servant, 
is  somewhat  overbold  and  familiar,  made  some  one  throw  open 
the  door  of  the  dining-room  as  if  in  triumph  ;  and  handing  a 
note  first  to  M.  de  I'Estorade,  he  set  down  in  the  middle  of 
the  table  a  mysterious  object  wrapped  in  tissue  paper,  which 
at  first  suggested  a  decorative  dish  of  some  kind. 

"What  in  the  world  is  that?"  I  asked  Lucas,  seeing  in  his 
face  the  announcement  of  a  surprise.  And  I  put  out  my  hand 
to  tear  away  the  paper. 

**  Oh,  madame,  be  careful !  "  cried  he.     "  It  is  breakable." 

My  husband  meanwhile  had  read  the  note,  which  he  handed 
to  me,  saying:   "M.  Dorlange's  apology." 

This  is  what  the  artist  wrote : 

"  Monsieur  le  Comte,  I  fancied  I  could  discern  that  Mad- 
ame de  I'Estorade  gave  me  permission  very  reluctantly  to 
take  advantage  of  the  audacious  use  I  had  made  of  my  petty 


166  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

larceny.  I  have  therefore  bravely  determined  to  alter  my 
work,  and  at  the  present  moment  hardly  a  likeness  is  discern- 
ible between  *  the  two  sisters.'  Still,  I  could  not  bear  that  all 
I  had  done  should  be  lost  to  the  world,  so  I  had  a  cast  taken 
of  Sainte-Ursule's  head  before  altering  it,  and  made  a  reduced 
copy,  placing  it  on  the  shoulders  of  a  charming  countess,  who 
is  not  yet  canonized,  thank  heaven  ! 

"The  mould  was  broken  after  the  first  copy  was  taken,  and 
that  only  copy  I  have  the  honor  to  beg  you  to  accept.  This 
fact,  which  was  only  proper,  gives  the  statuette  rather  more 
value.     Believe  me,  etc." 

While  I  was  reading,  my  husband,  Lucas,  Nais,  and  Rend 
had  been  very  busy  extracting  me  from  my  wrappings ;  and 
behold,  from  a  saint  I  had  been  converted  into  a  lady  of 
fashion,  in  the  shape  of  a  lovely  statuette  elegantly  dressed.  I 
thought  that  M.  de  I'Estorade  and  the  two  children  would  go 
crazy  with  admiration.  The  news  of  this  wonder  having 
spread  through  the  house,  all  the  servants — whom  we  certainly 
spoil — came  in  one  after  another,  as  if  they  had  been  invited, 
and  each  in  turn  exclaimed — "  How  like  madame  !  "  I  quote 
only  the  leading  theme,  and  do  not  remember  every  stupjd 
variation. 

L'Estorade  said:  "On  my  way  to  the  Exchequer  office  I 
will  look  in  on  M.  Dorlange.  If  he  is  disengaged  this  even- 
ing, I  will  ask  him  to  dine  here.  Armand,  whom  he  has  not 
yet  seen,  will  be  at  home;  thus  he  will  see  all  the  family  to- 
gether, and  you  can  express  your  thanks." 

I  did  not  approve  of  this  family  dinner ;  it  seemed  to  me  to 
place  M.  Dorlange  on  a  footing  of  intimacy  which  this  fresh 
civility  again  warned  me  might  be  dangerous.  When  I  raised 
some  little  difficulty,  M.  de  I'Estorade  remarked— 

**  Why,  my  dear,  the  first  time  we  invited  him,  you  wanted 
to  ask  him  only,  which  would  have  been  extremely  awkward, 
and  now,  that  it  is  perfectly  suitable,  you  are  making  objec- 
tions ! " 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  VSt 

To  this  argument,  which  placed  me  entirely  in  the  wrong, 
I  could  make  no  reply,  except  saying  to  myself  that  hus- 
bands are  sometimes  very  clumsy. 

He  also  contrived  to  vex  me  on  another  point,  on  which, 
as  you  know,  I  am  Rever  amenable.  At  dinner  M.  de  I'Esto- 
rade  reverted  to  the  subject  of  the  elections,  disapproving 
more  than  ever  of  M.  Dorlange  as  a  candidate,  though  no 
longer  thinking  it  ridiculous  ;  this  led  to  a  political  discus- 
sion. Armand,  who  is  a  very  serious  person,  and  reads  the 
newspapers,  joined  in  the  conversation.  Unlike  most  lads  of 
the  present  day,  he  shares  his  father's  opinions,  that  is  to  say, 
he  is  strongly  Conservative — indeed,  rather  in  excess  of  that^i^ 
wise  moderation  which  is  very  rare,  no  doubt,  at  sixteen. 

Without  being  rude,  M.  Dorlange  seemed  to  scorn  the  idea 
of  discussing  the  matter  with  the  poor  boy,  and  he  rather 
sharply  reminded  him  of  his  school  uniform  ;  so  much  so, 
that  I  saw  Armand  ready  to  lose  his  temper  and  answer 
viciously.  As  he  is  quite  well  bred,  I  had  only  to  give  him 
a  look,  and  he  controlled  himself;  but  seeing  him  turn 
crimson  and  shut  himself  up  in  total  silence,  I  felt  that  his 
pride  had  been  deeply  wounded,  and  thought  it  ungenerous 
of  M.  Dorlange  to  have  crushed  him  by  his  superiority.  I 
know  that  in  these  days  all  children  want  to  be  of  importance 
too  soon,  and  that  it  does  them  no  harm  to  interfere  now  and 
then  and  hinder  them  from  being  men  of  forty.  But  Armand 
really  has  powers  of  mind  and  reason  beyond  his  age. 

Do  you  want  proof? 

Until  last  year  I  would  never  part  from  him  ;  he  went  to 
the  College  Henri  IV.  as  a  day  scholar.  Well,  it  was  he  who, 
for  the  benefit  of  his  studies,  begged  to  be  placed  there  as  a 
boarder,  since  the  constant  going  to  and  fro  inevitably  inter- 
fered with  his  work ;  and  to  be  allowed,  as  a  favor,  to  shut  him- 
self up  under  the  ferule  of  an  usher,  he  exhausted  more  argu- 
ments, and  wheedled  me  with  more  coaxing,  than  most  boys 
would  have  used  to  obtain  the  opposite  result.     Thus   the 


158  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

grown-up  manner,  which  in  many  schoolboys  is  intolerably 
absurd,  in  him  is  the  evident  result  of  natural  precocity,  and 
this  precocity  ought  to  be  forgiven  him,  since  it  is  the  gift  of 
God.  M.  Dorlange,  owing  to  the  misfortune  of  his  birth,  is 
less  able  than  most  men  to  enter  into  the  feelings  of  boys,  so, 
of  course,  he  is  deficient  in  indulgence.  But  he  had  better 
be  careful !  This  is  a  bad  way  of  paying  his  court  to  me, 
even  on  the  most  ordinary  footing  of  friendship. 

Being  so  small  a  party,  I  could  not,  of  course,  revert  to  the 
history  ne  had  to  tell  me  ;  but  I  did  not  think  that  he  was 
particularly  anxious  to  recur  to  the  subject.  In  fact,  he  was 
less  attentive  to  me  than  to  Na'is,  for  whom  he  cut  out  black 
paper  figures  during  an  hour  or  more.  It  must  also  be  said 
that  Madame  de  Rastignac  came  in  the  way,  and  that  I  had 
to  give  myself  up  to  her  visit.  While  I  was  talking  to  her  by 
the  fire,  M.  Dorlange,  at  the  other  end  of  the  room,  was 
making  NaTs  and  Ren6  stand  for  their  portraits,  and  they 
presently  came  exultant  to  show  me  their  silhouettes,  wonder- 
fully like,  snipped  out  with  the  scissors. 

"Do  you  know,"  said  NaVs  in  a  whisper,  "  M.  Dorlange 
says  he  will  make  a  bust  of  me  in  marble  ?  " 

All  this  struck  me  as  in  rather  bad  taste.  I  do  not  like  to 
see  artists  who,  when  admitted  to  a  drawing-room,  still  carry 
on  the  business,  as  it  were.  They  thus  justify  the  aristocratic 
arrogance  which  sometimes  refuses  to  think  them  worthy  to 
be  received  for  their  own  sake. 

M,  Dorlange  went  away  early;  and  M.  de  I'Estorade  got 
on  my  nerves,  as  he  has  done  so  many  times  in  his  life,  when 
he  insisted  on  showing  out  his  guest,  who  had  tried  to  steal 
away  unperceived,  and  I  heard  him  desire  him  to  repeat  his 
visits  less  rarely,  that  I  was  always  at  home  in  the  evening. 

The  result  of  this  family  dinner  has  been  civil  war  among 
the  children.  NaVs,  lauding  her  dear  deliverer  to  the  skies,  in 
which  she  is  supported  by  Ren6,  who  is  completely  won  over 
by  a  splendid  lancer  on  horseback,  cut  out  for  him  by  M.  Dor- 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  159 

lange.  Armand,  on  the  contrary,  says  he  is  ugly,  which  is 
indisputable ;  he  declares  he  is  just  like  the  portraits  of  Danton 
in  the  illustrated  history  of  the  Revolution,  and  there  is  some 
truth  in  it.  He  ^^o  says  that  in  the  statuette  he  has  made  me 
look  like  a  milliner''5  apprentice,  which  is  not  true  at  all. 

DORLANGE   TO   MARIE-GASTON. 

Paris,  April,  1839. 

Why  do  I  give  up  my  art,  and  what  do  I  expect  to  find  in 
that  "  galley  "  called  politics  ? 

That  is  what  comes,  my  dear  fond  lover,  of  shutting  yourself 
up  for  years  in  conventual  matrimony.  The  world,  mean- 
while, has  gone  on.  Life  has  brought  fresh  combinations  to 
those  whom  you  shut  out,  and  the  less  you  know  of  them,  the 
readier  you  are  to  blame  those  you  have  forgotten.  Every  one 
is  clever  at  patching  other  people's  affairs. 

You  must  know,  then,  my  inquisitive  friend,  that  it  was  not 
of  my  own  accord  that  I  took  the  step  for  which  you  would 
call  me  to  account.  My  unforeseen  appearance  in  the  electoral 
breach  was  in  obedience  to  the  desire  of  a  very  high  personage. 
A  father  has  at  last  allowed  a  gleam  of  light  to  shine  in  the 
eternal  darkness;  he  has  three  parts  revealed  himself;  and,  if 
I  may  trust  appearances,  he  fills  a  place  in  society  that  might 
satisfy  the  most  exacting  conceit. 

I  spend  the  evening  two  or  three  times  a  week  at  the  Cafe 
Greco,  the  favored  haunt  of  artists,  and  meet  there  several 
Roman  students,  my  contemporaries.  They  have  made  me 
acquainted  with  some  journalists  and  men  of  letters,  agreeable 
and  superior  men,  with  whom  it  is  both  pleasant  and  profitable 
to  exchange  ideas.  There  is  a  particular  corner  where  we  con- 
gregate, and  where  every  question  of  a  serious  character  is 
discussed  and  thrashed  out ;  but,  as  having  the  most  living 
interest,  politics  especially  give  rise  to  the  most  impassioned 
arguments.     In  our  little  club  democratic  views  predominate; 


160  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

they  are  represented  in  the  most  diverse  shades,  including  the 
Utopia  or  phalanstery  of  workers.  This  will  show  you  that  the 
proceedings  of  the  Government  are  often  severely  handled, 
and  that  unlimited  freedom  of  language  characterizes  our 
verdicts. 

Rather  more  than  a  year  ago  the  waiter  said  to  me : 

"You  are  watched  by  the  police,  sir,  and  you  will  be  wise 
not  to  talk  always  open-mouthed  like  St.  Paul." 

"  By  the  police,  my  good  fellow  !  Why,  what  on  earth  can 
it  find  to  watch  ?  All  I  can  say,  and  a  great  deal  more,  is 
printed  every  morning  in  the  newspapers." 

"  That  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  They  have  an  eye  on  you. 
I  have  seen  it.  There  is  a  little  old  man  who  takes  a  great  deal 
of  snuff,  and  who  always  sits  where  he  can  hear  you.  When 
you  are  speaking  he  listens  much  more  attentively  than  to  any 
of  the  others,  and  I  even  caught  him  once  writing  something 
in  his  pocket-book  in  signs  that  were  not  the  alphabet." 

"Very  good  ;  then,  next  time  he  comes,  show  him  to  me." 

The  next  time  was  no  further  off  than  the  morrow. 

The  man  pointed  out  was  small  and  gray-haired,  untidy  in 
his  appearance,  and  his  face,  deeply  marked  by  the  smallpox, 
was,  I  thought,  that  of  a  man  of  fifty.  And  he  certainly  very 
often  took  a  pinch  out  of  a  large  snuff-box,  and  seemed  to 
honor  my  remarks  with  a  degree  of  attention  which  I  could, 
as  I  chose,  regard  as  highly  complimentary  or  extremely  im- 
pertinent. But  of  the  two  alternatives  I  was  inclined  to  the 
more  charitable  by  the  air  of  honesty  and  mildness  that  per- 
vaded this  supposed  emissary  of  the  police.  When  I  remarked 
on  this  reassuring  aspect  to  the  waiter,  who  flattered  himself 
that  he  had  scented  out  a  secret  agent — 

"Oh,  yes,  indeed  !  "  said  he.  "Those  are  the  sweet  man- 
ners the  rats,  for  so  we  mostly  call  them,  always  put  on  to 
hide  their  game." 

Two  days  after,  one  Sunday,  at  the  hour  of  vespers,  in  the 
course  of  one  of  those  long  walks  all  across  Paris,  which  you 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  181 

know  I  always  loved,  mere  chance  led  me  into  the  church  of 
Saint-Louis  en  I'lle,  the  parish  church  of  that  God-forsaken 
quarter.  The  building  is  not  particularly  interesting,  in  spite 
of  what  some  historians  have  said,  and  following  them,  every 
"Stranger's  Guide  "to  Paris."  I  should  only  have  walked 
through  it,  but  that  the  wonderful  talent  of  the  organist  who 
was  playing  the  service  irresistibly  held  me.  When  I  tell  you 
that  the  performer  came  up  to  my  ideal,  you  will  know  that  is 
high  praise ;  for  you  will,  I  daresay,  remember  that  I  draw  a 
distinction  between  organ  players  and  organists — a  rank  of 
the  superior  nobility  to  whom  I  grant  the  title  only  on  the 
highest  grounds. 

But  are  not  great  artists,  after  all,  the  real  kings  by  divine 
right?  Imagine  my  amazement  when,  after  waiting  a  few 
minutes,  instead  of  a  perfectly  strange  face,  I  saw  a  man  whom 
I  at  once  vaguely  recognized,  and  knew  at  a  second  glance 
for  my  watchful  listener  of  the  Cafe  des  Arts.  Nor  was  this 
all:  at  his  heels  came  a  sort  of  spoilt  attempt  at  humanity; 
and  in  this  misshapen  failure,  with  crooked  legs  and  a  thicket 
of  unkempt  hair,  I  discerned  our  old  quarterly  providence, 
my  banker,  my  money-carrier — in  short,  our  respected  friend 
the  mysterious  dwarf. 

I,  you  may  be  sure,  did  not  escape  his  sharp  eye,  and  I  saw 
him  eagerly  pointing  me  out  to  the  organist.  He  instinc- 
tively, and  not  probably  calculating  all  that  would  come  of 
it,  turned  quickly  to  look  at  me,  and  then,  taking  no  further 
notice  of  me,  went  on  his  way.  The  dwarf,  meanwhile — 
whom  I  might  recognize  as  his  master's  servant  by  this  single 
detail — went  familiarly  up  to  the  man  who  distributed  holy 
water  and  offered  him  a  pinch  of  snufF;  then  he  hobbled 
away,  never  looking  at  me  again,  and  vanished  through  a  door 
in  a  corner  under  one  of  the  side-aisles. 

I  acted  on  the  spur  of  the  moment  and  rushed  after  the 
organist.  By  the  time  I  had  got  out  of  the  church  door  he 
was  out  of  sight,  but  chance  favored  me  and  led  me  in  the 
11 


162  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

direction  he  had  taken ;  as  I  came  out  on  the  Quai  de  Bethune, 

I  saw  him  in  the  distance  knocking  at  a  door. 
I  boldly  followed  and  said  to  the  gate-porter — 
"Is  the  organist  of  Saint-Louis  en  I'lle  within?" 
"M.  Jacques  Bricheteau?" 

"Yes,  M.  Jacques  Bricheteau;  he  lives  here,  I  think?" 
"  On  the  fourth  floor  above  the  entresol,  the  door  on  the 

left.     He  has  just  come  in ;  you  may  catch  him  up  on  the 

stairs." 

Run  as  fast  as  I  could,  by  the  time  I  reached  my  man  his 
key  was  in  the  lock. 

"  M.  Jacques  Bricheteau?  "  I  hastily  exclaimed.  "  I  have 
the  honor,  I  think ?" 

"  I  know  no  such  person,"  said  he  coolly,  as  he  turned  the 
key. 

"I  may  be  mistaken  in  the  name;  but  M.  the  organist  of 
Saint-Louis  en  I'lle?" 

"I  never  heard  of  any  organist  living  in  this  house." 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  monsieur:  there  certainly  is,  for  the 
concierge  has  just  told  me  so.  Beside,  you  are  undoubtedly 
the  gentleman  I  saw  coming  out  of  the  organ  loft,  accompa- 
nied by  a  man — I  may  say " 

But  before  I  had  finished  speaking,  this  strange  individual 
had  balked  me  of  his  company  and  shut  his  door  in  my  face. 

I  proceeded  to  pull  his  bell  with  some  energy,  quite  deter- 
mined to  persist  till  I  knew  the  reason  of  this  fixed  purpose  of 
ignoring  me.  For  some  little  time  the  besieged  party  put  up 
with  the  turmoil  I  was  making ;  but  I  suddenly  remarked  that 
the  bell  had  ceased  to  sound.  It  had  evidently  been  muffled; 
the  obstinate  foe  would  not  come  to  the  door,  and  the  only 
way  of  getting  at  him  would  be  to  beat  it  in.  That,  however, 
is  not  thought  mannerly. 

I  went  down  again  to  the  door-porter,  who  informed  me 
that  M.  Bricheteau  was  a  quiet  resident,  polite  but  not  com- 
piunicative ;  punctual  in  paying  his  rent,  but  not  in  easy  cir- 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  163 

cumstances,  for  he  kept  no  servant — not  even  a  maid  to  clean 
for  him,  and  he  never  took  a  meal  at  home.  He  was  always 
out  by  ten  in  the  morning,  and  never  came  in  till  the  evening, 
and  was  probably  »  clerk  in  an  office,  or  perhaps  a  music- 
master  giving  lessons. 

On  my  return  home  I  persuaded  myself  that  a  pathetic 
epistle  addressed  to  my  recalcitrant  friend  would  induce  him 
to  admit  me.  Seasoning  my  urgent  supplication  with  a  spice 
of  intimidation,  I  gave  him  to  understand  that  I  was  im- 
movably bent  on  penetrating,  at  any  cost,  the  mystery  of  my 
birth,  of  which  he  seemed  to  be  fully  informed.  Now  that  I 
had  some  clue  to  the  secret,  it  would  be  his  part  to  consider 
whether  my  desperate  efforts,  blindly  rushing  against  the  dark 
unknown,  might  not  entail  much  greater  trouble  than  the 
frank  explanation  I  begged  him  to  favor  me  with. 

My  ultimatum  thus  formulated,  to  the  end  that  it  should 
reach  the  hands  of  M.  Jacques  Bricheteau  as  soon  as  possible, 
on  the  following  morning,  before  nine,  I  arrived  at  the  door. 
But,  in  a  frenzy  of  secrecy — unless  he  has  some  really  inex- 
plicable reason  for  avoiding  me — at  daybreak  that  morning, 
after  paying  the  rent  for  the  current  term  and  for  a  term's 
notice,  the  organist  had  packed  off  his  furniture ;  and  it  is  to 
be  supposed  that  the  men  employed  in  this  sudden  flitting 
were  handsomely  bribed  for  their  silence,  since  the  concierge 
could  not  discover  the  name  of  the  street  whither  his  lodger 
was  moving.  The  men  did  not  belong  to  the  neighborhood, 
so  there  was  not  a  chance  of  unearthing  them  and  paying 
them  to  speak. 

Still,  and  in  spite  of  the  obstinacy  and  cleverness  of  this 
unattainable  antagonist,  I  would  not  be  beaten.  I  felt  there 
was  still  a  connecting  thread  between  us  in  the  organ  of  Saint- 
Louis'  ;  so  on  the  following  Sunday,  before  the  end  of  high 
mass,  I  took  up  a  post  at  the  door  of  the  organ  loft,  fully  de- 
termined not  to  let  the  sphinx  go  till  I  had  made  it  speak. 
Here  was  a  fresh  disappointment :  M.  Jacques  Bricheteau  was 


164  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

represented  by  one  of  his  pupils,  and  for  three  Sundays  in 
succession  it  was  the  same.  On  the  fourth  I  ventured  to 
speak  to  the  substitute  and  ask  him  if  the  maestro  were  ill. 

"  No,  monsieur.  M.  Bricheteau  is  taking  a  holiday  ',  he  will 
be  absent  for  some  time,  and  is  away  on  business." 

"  Where  then  can  I  write  him  ?  " 

"I  do  not  exactly  know.  Still,  I  suppose  that  you  can 
write  and  send  to  his  lodgings,  close  at  hand,  Quai  de 
Bethune." 

"  But  he  has  moved.     Did  you  not  know  ?  " 

*'  No.     Indeed  !  and  where  is  he  now  living  ?  " 

I  was  out  of  luck— asking  for  information  from  a  man  who, 
when  I  questioned  him,  questioned  me.  And  as  if  to  drive 
me  fairly  beside  myself,  while  investigating  matters  under 
such  hopeful  conditions,  I  saw  in  the  distance  that  confounded 
deaf  and  dumb  dwarf,  who  positively  laughed  as  he  looked  at 
me. 

Happily  for  my  impatience  and  curiosity,  which  were  en- 
hanced by  every  defeat,  and  rising  by  degrees  to  an  almost 
intolerable  pitch,  daylight  presently  dawned.  A  few  days 
after  this  last  false  scent,  a  letter  reached  me ;  and  I,  a  better 
scholar  than  the  concierge  of  the  Quai  de  Bethune,  at  once 
saw  that  the  postmark  was  Stockholm,  Sweden,  which  did  not 
excessively  astonish  me.  When  in  Rome,  I  had  the  honor 
of  being  kindly  received  by  Thorwaldsen,  the  great  sculptor, 
and  I  had  met  many  of  his  fellow-countrymen  in  his  studio — 
some  commission  perhaps,  for  which  he  had  recommended 
me — so  imagine  my  surprise  and  emotion  when,  on  opening 
it,  the  first  words  I  read  were — 

^^ Monsieur  mon fits''  (my  son). 

The  letter  was  long,  and  I  had  not  patience  enough  to  read 
it  through  before  looking  to  see  whose  name  I  bore.  So  I 
turned  at  once  to  the  signature.  This  beginning.  Monsieur 
monfils,  which  we  often  find  in  history  as  used  by  kings  when 
addressing  their  scions,  must  surely  premise  aristocratic  par- 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  165 

entage  !     My  disappointment  was  great :  there  was  no  signa- 
ture. 

"Monsieur  mon^fils,"  my  anonymous  father  wrote,  "I 
cannot  regret  that  y6ur  inveterate  determination  to  solve  the 
secret  of  your  birth  should  have  compelled  the  man  who 
watched  over  your  youth  to  come  here  and  confer  with  me  as 
to  the  steps  to  which  we  should  be  compelled  by  this  danger- 
ous and  turbulent  curiosity.  I  have  for  a  long  time  cherished 
an  idea  which  has  now  come  to  maturity,  and  it  has  been  far 
more  satisfactorily  discussed  in  speech  than  it  could  have  been 
by  correspondence. 

'•  Being  obliged  to  leave  France  almost  immediately  after 
your  birth,  which  cost  your  mother  her  life,  I  made  a  large 
fortune  in  a  foreign  land,  and  I  now  fill  a  high  position  in  the 
Government  of  this  country.  I  foresee  a  time  when  I  may 
be  free  to  give  you  my  name,  and  at  the  same  time  to  secure 
for  you  the  reversion  of  the  post  I  hold.  But,  to  rise  so  high 
as  this,  the  celebrity  which,  with  my  permission,  you  promise 
to  achieve  in  Art  would  not  be  a  sufficient  recommendation. 
I  therefore  wish  you  to  enter  on  a  political  career ;  and  in 
that  career,  under  the  existing  conditions  in  France,  there  are 
not  two  ways  of  distinguishing  yourself — you  must  be  elected 
a  member  of  the  Chamber.  You  are  not  yet,  I  know,  of  the 
required  age,  and  you  have  not  the  necessary  qualification. 
But  you  will  be  thirty  next  year,  and  that  is  just  long  enough 
to  enable  you  to  become  a  landed  proprietor  and  prove  your 
possession  for  more  than  a  twelvemonth.  On  the  day  after 
receiving  this  you  may  call  on  the  Brothers  Mongenod, 
bankers.  Rue  de  la  Victoire ;  they  will  pay  you  a  sum  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs.  This  you  must  at  once 
invest  in  the  purchase  of  a  house,  and  devote  any  surplus  to 
the  support  of  some  newspaper  which,  in  due  course,  will 
advocate  your  election — after  another  outlay  is  met  which  I 
shall  presently  explain. 


166  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"Your  aptitude  for  politics  is  vouched  for  by  the  friend 
who  has  watched  over  you  in  your  deserted  existence,  with  a 
zeal  and  disinterestedness  that  I  can  never  repay.  He  has  for 
some  time  followed  you  and  listened  to  you,  and  he  is  con- 
vinced that  you  would  make  a  creditable  appearance  in  the 
Chamber.  Your  opinions — Liberal,  and  at  once  moderate 
and  enthusiastic — meet  my  views,  and  you  have,  unconsciously, 
hitherto  played  into  my  hand  very  successfully. 

*'  I  cannot  at  present  reveal  to  you  the  place  of  your  prob- 
able election.  It  is  being  prepared  with  a  deep  secrecy  and 
skill  which  will  be  successful  in  proportion  as  they  are  wrapped 
in  silence  and  darkness.  However,  your  success  may  be, 
perhaps,  partly  insured  by  your  carrying  out  a  work  which  I 
commend  to  your  notice,  advising  you  to  accept  its  apparent 
singularity  without  demur  or  comment.  For  the  present  you 
must  still  be  a  sculptor,  and  you  are  to  employ  the  talent  of 
which  you  have  given  evidence  in  the  execution  of  a  statue  of 
Sainte-Ursule.  The  subject  does  not  lack  poetry  or  interest ; 
Sainte-Ursule,  virgin  and  martyr,  was,  it  is  generally  believed, 
the  daughter  of  a  prince  of  Great  Britain.  She  was  martyred 
in  the  fifth  century  at  Cologne,  where  she  had  founded  a  con- 
vent of  maidens  known  to  popular  superstition  as  the  Eleven 
Thousand  Virgins.  She  was  subsequently  taken  as  the  patron 
saint  of  the  Ursuline  Sisters,  who  adopted  her  name ;  also  of 
the  famous  house  of  the  Sorbonne. 

"An  artist  so  clever  as  you  are  may,  it  seems  to  me,  make 
something  of  all  these  facts. 

"  Without  knowing  the  name  of  the  place  you  are  to  repre- 
sent, it  is  desirable  that  you  should  at  once  make  due  profes- 
sion of  your  political  tendencies  and  proclaim  your  intention 
of  standing  for  election.  At  the  same  time,  I  cannot  too 
earnestly  impress  on  you  the  need  for  secrecy  as  to  this  commu- 
nication, and  for  patience  in  your  present  position.  Leave 
my  agent  in  peace,  I  beg  of  you,  and  setting  aside  a  curiosity 
which,  I  warn  you,  will  involve  you  in  the  greatest  disasters, 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  167 

await  the  slow  and  quiet  development  of  the  splendid  future 
that  lies  before  you.  By  not  choosing  to  conform  to  my 
arrangement,  you  will  deprive  yourself  of  every  chance  of  being 
initiated  into  the  mystery  you  are  so  eager  to  solve.  However, 
I  will  not  even  supp&ae  that  you  can  rebel ;  I  would  rather  be- 
lieve in  your  perfect  deference  to  the  wishes  of  a  father  who 
feels  that  the  happiest  day  of  his  life  will  be  that  when  he  is  at 
last  able  to  make  himself  known  to  you. 

"P.  S. — As  your  statue  is  intended  for  the  chapel  of  an 
Ursuline  convent,  it  must  be  in  white  marble.  The  height  of 
the  figure  is  to  be  1.706  metre,  or,  in  other  words,  five  feet 
three  inches.  As  it  will  not  stand  in  a  niche,  it  must  be 
equally  well  finished  on  all  sides.  The  cost  to  be  defrayed 
out  of  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs  advised  by 
the  present  letter." 

Of  course  curiosity  took  me  to  the  bankers ;  and,  on  finding 
at  Messrs.  Mongenod's,  in  hard  and  ready  cash,  the  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  francs  promised  me,  I  was,  I  confess, 
pleased.  It  struck  me  that  the  determination  which  began  by 
advancing  so  large  a  sura  must  in  fact  be  serious ;  since  that 
power  knew  all,  and  I  knew  nothing,  it  seemed  to  me  unrea- 
sonable and  inopportune  to  attempt  to  struggle. 

I  bought  the  house,  I  took  shares  in  the  "  National,"  and  I 
found  ample  encouragement  in  my  political  schemes,  as  well 
as  the  certainty  of  a  keen  contest  whenever  I  should  reveal  the 
name  of  the  place  I  meant  to  stand  for — hitherto  I  have  had 
no  difficulty  in  keeping  that  secret. 

I  also  executed  the  Sainte-Ursule,  and  I  am  now  waiting  for 
further  instructions,  which  certainly  seem  to  me  to  be  a  long 
time  coming,  now  that  I  have  loudly  proclaimed  my  ambitions 
and  that  the  stir  of  a  general  election  is  in  the  air — a  fight  to 
which  I  am  by  no  means  equal.  To  obey  the  instructions  ot 
paternal  caution  I  need  not,  I  know,  ask  you  to  be  absolutely 
secret  about  all  I  confide  to  you.     Reserve  is  a  virtue  which  I 


168  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

know  you  to  have  brought  to  such  perfection  that  I  need  not 
preach  it  to  you.  The  duel  fought  on  your  behalf  has  found 
me  favor  in  the  democracy. 


DORLANGE   TO   MARIE-GASTON^ 

Paris,  April,  1839. 

My  Dear  Friend  :— I  am  still  playing  my  part  as  best  I 
may  of  a  candidate  without  a  constituency.  My  friends  are 
puzzled,  and  I  must  confess  that  I  am  worried,  for  there  are 
but  a  few  weeks  now  till  the  election  ;  and  if  all  these  myste- 
rious preparations  end  in  smoke,  a  pretty  figure  I  shall  cut  in 
the  eyes  of  M.  Bixiou,  whose  spiteful  comments  you  reported 
to  me  not  long  ago.  Still,  one  thought  supports  me  :  It 
seems  hardly  likely  that  anybody  should  sow  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  francs  in  my  furrow  without  the  definite  pur- 
pose of  gathering  some  sort  of  crop.  Possibly,  indeed,  if  I 
could  see  the  thing  more  clearly,  this  absence  of  hurry  on  the 
part  of  those  who  are  working  for  me  in  such  a  deliberate  and 
underground  manner  may,  in  fact,  be  the  result  of  perfect 
confidence  in  my  success. 

In  one  word  I  will  paint  M.  Bixiou — he  is  envious.  There 
was  in  him  unquestionably  the  making  of  a  great  artist ;  but 
in  the  economy  of  his  individuality  the  stomach  has  killed 
the  heart  and  head,  and  by  sheer  subjection  to  sensuous  appe- 
tite he  is  now  for  ever  doomed  to  remain  no  more  than  a 
caricaturist,  a  man,  that  is  to  say,  who  lives  from  hand  to 
mouth,  discounts  his  talent  in  frittered  work,  real  penal  servi- 
tude which  enables  the  man  to  live  jovially,  but  brings  him 
no  consideration,  and  promises  him  no  future  ;  a  man  whose 
talent  is  a  mere  feeble  abortion  ;  his  mind  as  much  as  his  face 
is  stamped  with  the  perpetual,  hopeless  grimace  which  human 
instinct  has  always  ascribed  to  the  fallen  angels.  And  just  as 
the  Prince  of  Darkness  attacks  by  preference  the  greatest 
saints,  as  reminding  him  most  sternly  of  the  angelic  heights 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  169 

from  which  he  fell,  so  M.  Bixiou  sheds  his  venom  on  every 
talent  and  every  character  in  whose  strength,  and  spirit,  and 
purpose  he  feels  the  brave  resolve  not  to  waste  itself  as  his 
has  been  wasted.  But  there  is  one  thing  which  may  reassure 
you  as  to  the  outcome  of  his  slander  and  his  abuse — for  from 
M.  de  I'Estorade's  report  to  you  I  perceive  that  he  indulges 
in  both  :  namely,  at  the  very  time  when  he  fancies  he  is  most 
successfully  occupied  in  a  sort  of  burlesque  autopsy  of  my 
person,  he  is  but  a  plastic  puppet  in  my  hands,  a  jumping- 
jack  of  which  I  hold  the  string,  and  into  whose  mouth  I  can 
put  what  words  I  please. 

Feeling  sure  that  a  little  advertisement  should  prepare  the 
way  for  my  appearance  as  a  statesman,  I  looked  about  me  for 
some  public  criers,  deep-mouthed,  as  Mme.  Pernelle  would 
say,  and  well  able  to  give  tongue.  If  among  blatant  trump- 
eters I  could  have  found  one  more  shrill,  more  deafeningly 
persistent  than  the  great  Bixiou,  I  would  have  preferred  him. 
I  took  advantage  of  the  malignant  inquisitiveness  that  takes 
that  amiable  pest  into  every  studio  in  turn,  to  fill  himself  up 
with  information.  I  told  him  everything,  of  my  good  luck, 
of  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs,  ascribing  them 
to  a  lucky  turn  on  'Change,  of  all  my  parliamentary  schemes, 
to  the  very  number  of  the  house  I  had  purchased.  And  I  am 
much  mistaken  if  that  number  is  not  written  down  somewhere 
in  his  note-book. 

This,  I  fancy,  is  enough  to  reduce  the  admiration  of  his 
audience  at  the  Montcornets',  and  prove  that  this  formidable 
magpie  is  not  quite  so  miraculously  and  truthfully  informed 
on  all  points. 

As  to  my  political  horoscope,  which  he  condescended  to 
cast,  I  cannot  say  that  his  astrology,  strictly  speaking,  is  far 
from  the  truth.  It  is  quite  certain  that  by  announcing  my 
intention  of  never  attempting  to  keep  step  with  other  men's 
opinions  I  shall  attain  to  the  position  so  clearly  set  forth  by  a 
pleader  worthy  to  be  the  successo^f  M.  de  la  Palisse:  "What 


170  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

do  you  do,  gentlemen,  to  a  man  whom  you  place  in  solitary 
confinement?  You  isolate  him."  Isolation,  in  fact,  must  at 
first  be  my  lot ;  and  the  life  of  an  artist,  a  solitary  life,  in 
which  a  man  spins  everything  out  of  himself,  has  predisposed 
me  to  accept  the  situation.  And  if  I  find  myself  in  conse- 
quence— especially  as  a  beginner — exempt  from  all  lobby  and 
backstairs  influences,  this  may  do  me  good  service  as  a  speaker; 
for  I  shall  be  able  to  express  myself  with  unbiased  strength 
and  freedom.  Never  being  bound  by  any  pledge,  by  any 
trumpery  party  interest,  there  will  be  nothing  to  hinder  me 
from  being  myself,  or  from  expressing  in  their  sacred  crudity 
any  ideas  I  think  wholesome  and  true. 

I  know  full  well  that  in  the  face  of  an  assembled  multitude 
these  poor  truths  for  truth's  sake  do  not  always  get  their 
chance  of  becoming  infectious,  or  even  of  being  respectfully 
welcomed.  But  have  you  not  observed  that  by  knowing  how 
to  snatch  an  opportunity  we  sometimes  hit  on  a  day  which 
seems  to  be  a  sort  of  festival  of  sense  and  intelligence,  when  the 
right  thing  triumphs  almost  without  an  effort  ?  On  those  days, 
in  spite  of  the  utmost  prejudice  in  the  hearers,  the  speaker's 
honesty  makes  them  generous  and  sympathetic,  at  any  rate 
for  the  moment,  with  all  that  is  upright,  true,  and  magnani- 
mous. At  the  same  time,  I  do  not  deceive  myself;  though 
this  system  of  mine  may  win  me  some  consideration  and  noto- 
riety as  an  orator,  it  is  of  very  little  avail  in  the  pursuit  of 
office,  nor  will  it  gain  me  the  reputation  as  a  practical  man 
for  which  it  is  now  the  fashion  to  sacrifice  so  much.  But  if 
my  influence  at  arm's  length  should  be  inconsiderable,  I  shall 
be  heard  at  a  distance,  because  I  shall,  for  the  most  part, 
speak  out  of  the  window — outside  the  narrow  and  suffocating 
atmosphere  of  parliamentary  life,  and  over  the  head  of  its 
petty  passions  and  mean  interests. 

This  kind  of  success  will  be  all  I  need  for  the  purposes  my 
benevolent  parent  seems  to  have  in  view.  What  he  appears 
to  aim  at  is  that  I  should  make  a  noise  and  be  heard  afar ; 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  171 

and  from  that  side,  political  life  has,  I  declare,  its  artistic 
aspect  which  will  not  too  monstrously  jar  with  my  past  life. 

Now,  to  come  to  another  matter — that  of  my  actual  or  pos- 
sible passion  for  I\^me.  de  I'Estorade.  This  is  your  very 
judicial  epitome  of  the  case:  In  1837,  when  you  set  out  for 
Italy,  Mme,  de  I'Estorade  was  still  in  the  bloom  of  her  beauty. 
Leading  a  life  so  calm,  so  sheltered  from  passion  as  hers  has 
always  been,  it  is  probable  that  the  lapse  of  two  years  has  left 
no  deep  marks  on  her ;  and  the  proof  that  time  has  stood  still 
for  that  privileged  beauty  you  find  in  ray  strange  and  audacious 
persistency  in  deriving  inspiration  from  it.  Hence,  if  the  mis- 
chief is  not  already  done,  at  any  rate  you  will  give  me  warn- 
ing ;  there  is  but  one  step  from  the  artist's  admiration  to  the 
man's,  and  the  story  of  Pygmalion  is  commended  to  my  pru- 
dent meditation. 

In  the  first  place,  most  sapient  and  learned  mythologist,  I 
may  make  this  observation  :  The  person  principally  interested 
in  the  matter,  who  is  on  the  spot  and  in  a  far  better  position 
than  you  to  estimate  the  perils  of  the  situation,  has  no  anxiety 
on  the  subject.  M.  de  I'Estorade's  only  complaint  is  that 
my  visits  are  not  more  frequent,  and  my  reticence  is,  in  his 
eyes,  pure  bad  manners.  "To  be  sure!"  you  exclaim,  "a 
husband — any  husband — is  the  last  to  suspect  that  his  wife  is 
being  made  love  to  !  "  So  be  it.  But  what  about  Mme.  de 
I'Estorade,  with  her  high  reputation  for  virtue,  and  the  cold, 
almost  calculating  reasonableness  which  she  so  often  brought 
to  bear  on  the  ardent  and  impassioned  petulance  of  another 
lady  known  to  you?  And  will  you  not  also  allow  that  the 
love  of  her  children,  carried  to  the  last  degree  of  fervor,  I 
had  almost  said  fanaticism,  that  we  see  in  women,  must  in 
her  be  an  infallible  protection  ?  So  far,  and  for  her,  well  and 
good. 

But  it  is  not  her  peace  of  mind,  but  mine,  that  concerns 
your  friendship ;  for  if  Pygmalion  had  failed  to  animate  his 
statue,  much  good  his  love  would  have  done  him  !     I  might. 


172  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

in  reply  to  your  charitable  solicitude,  refer  you  to  my  princi- 
ples— though  the  word  and  the  thing  alike  are  completely  out 
of  fashion — to  a  certain  very  absurd  respect  that  I  have  al- 
ways professed  for  conjugal  fidelity,  to  the  very  natural  obstacle 
to  all  such  levity  of  fancy  raised  in  my  mind  by  the  serious 
responsibilities  on  which  I  am  embarking.  And  I  might  also 
say  that,  though  not  indeed  by  the  superiority  of  my  genius, 
at  least  by  every  tendency  of  mind  and  character,  I  am  one 
of  that  earnest  and  serious  school  of  a  past  time  who,  regard- 
ing Art  as  long  and  Life  as  short — Ars  longa  et  vita  brevis — 
did  not  waste  their  time  and  their  creative  powers  in  silly, 
dull  intrigues. 

I  will  here  explain  the  enigma  as  to  Mme.  de  I'Estorade : 
In  1835,  the  last  year  I  spent  in  Rome,  I  was  on  terms  of  con- 
siderable intimacy  with  a  French  Academy  student  named 
Desroziers.  He  was  a  musician,  a  man  of  distinguished  and 
observant  mind,  who  would  probably  have  made  a  mark  in 
his  art  if  he  had  not  been  carried  off  by  typhoid  fever  the 
year  after  I  left. 

One  day  when  we  had  taken  it  into  our  heads  that  we  would 
travel  as  far  as  Sicily,  an  excursion  allowed  by  the  rules,  of  the 
Academy,  we  found  ourselves  absolutely  penniless,  and  we 
were  wandering  about  the  streets  of  Rome  considering  by 
what  means  we  could  repair  the  damage  to  our  finances,  when 
we  happened  to  pass  by  the  Braschi  palace.  The  doors  stood 
wide  open,  admitting  an  ebb  and  flow  of  people  of  all  classes 
in  an  endless  tide. 

"By  the  mass!  "  cried  Desroziers,  "this  is  the  very  thing 
for  us!" 

And  without  any  explanation  as  to  whither  he  was  leading 
me,  we  followed  in  the  stream  and  made  our  way  into  the 
palace. 

After  going  up  a  magnificent  marble  staircase,  and  through 
a  long  suite  of  rooms,-  poorly  enough  furnished — as  is  usual  in 
Roman  palaces,  where  all  the  luxury  consists  in  fine  ceilings, 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  173 

pictures,  statues,  and  other  works  of  art — we  found  ourselves 
in  a  room  hung  with  black  and  lighted  with  niany  tapers.  It 
was,  as  you  will  have  understood,  a  body  lying  in  state.  In 
the  middle,  on  a  raised  bed  covered  with  a  canopy,  lay  the 
most  hideous  and  grotesque  thing  you  can  conceive  of.  Im- 
agine a  little  old  man,  with  a  face  and  hands  withered  to  such 
a  state  of  desiccation  that  a  mummy  by  comparison  would 
seem  fat  and  well-looking.  Dressed  in  black  satin  breeches, 
a  violet  velvet  coat  of  fashionable  cut,  a  white  vest  embroid- 
ered with  gold,  and  a  full  shirt  frill  of  English  point-lace,  this 
skeleton's  cheeks  were  thickly  coated  with  rouge,  which  en- 
hanced the  parchment  yellow  of  the  rest  of  the  skin  ;  and 
crowning  a  fair  wig,  tightly  curled,  it  had  a  huge  hat  and 
feathers  tilted  knowingly  over  one  ear,  and  making  the  most 
reverent  spectator  laugh  in  spite  of  himself.  After  glancing 
at  this  ridiculous  and  pitiable  exhibition,  the  indispensable 
preliminary  to  a  funeral  according  to  the  aristocratic  etiquette 
of  Rome — 

"There  you  see  the  end,"  said  Desroziers.  "Now,  come 
and  look  at  the  beginning." 

So  saying,  and  paying  no  heed  to  my  questions,  because  he 
wanted  to  give  me  a  dramatic  surprise,  he  led  me  off  to  the 
Albani  gallery,  and  placing  me  in  front  of  a  statue  of  Adonis 
reclining  on  a  lion's  skin — 

"What  do  you  think  of  that?"  said  he. 

"That!"  cried  I  at  a  first  glance;  "it  is  as  fine  as  an 
antique." 

"  It  is  as  much  an  antique  as  I  am,"  replied  Desroziers,  and 
he  pointed  to  a  signature  on  the  plinth:  "  Sarrasine,  1758." 

"Antique  or  modern,  it  is  a  masterpiece,"  I  said,  when  I 
had  studied  this  delightful  work  from  all  sides.  "  But  how 
is  this  fine  statue  and  the  terrible  caricature  you  took  me  to 
see  just  now  to  help  us  on  our  way  to  Sicily  ?  " 

"  In  your  place,  I  should  have  begun  by  asking  who  and 
what  was  Sarrasine." 


174  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"That  was  unnecessary,"  replied  I.  "I  had  already 
heard  of  this  statue.  I  had  forgotten  it  again,  because  when 
I  came  to  see  it  the  Albani  gallery  was  closed  for  repairs — as 
they  say  of  the  theatres.  Sarrasine,  I  was  informed,  was  a 
pupil  of  Bouchardon's,  and,  like  us,  a  pensioner  on  the  King 
of  Rome,  where  he  died  within  six  months  of  his  arrival." 

"  But  who  or  what  caused  his  death  ?  " 

"  Some  illness  probably,"  replied  I,  never  dreaming  that 
my  reply  was  prophetic  of  the  end  of  the  man  I  was  addressing. 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it,"  said  Desroziers.  "  Artists  don't  die  in 
such  an  idiotic  way." 

And  he  gave  me  the  following  details : 

Sarrasine,  a  youth  of  genius,  but  of  ungovernable  passions, 
almost  as  soon  as  he  arrived  in  Rome,  fell  madly  in  love  with 
the  principal  soprano  at  the  Argentina,  whose  name  was  Zam- 
binella.  At  that  time  the  pope  would  not  allow  women  to 
appear  on  the  stage  in  Rome.  The  difficulty  was  overcome 
by  means  well  known,  and  imported  from  the  East.  Sarrasine, 
in  his  fury  at  finding  his  love  thus  cheated,  having  already 
executed  an  imaginary  statue  of  this  imaginary  mistress,  was 
on  the  point  of  killing  the  castrate  and  himself.  But  the 
singer  was  under  the  protection  of  a  great  personage,  who,  to 
be  beforehand  with  him,  had  cooled  the  sculptor's  blood  by  a 
few  pricks  of  the  stiletto.  Zambinella  had  not  approved  of 
this  violence,  but  nevertheless  continued  to  sing  at  the  Argen- 
tina and  on  every  stage  in  Europe,  amassing  an  enormous 
fortune. 

When  too  old  to  remain  on  the  stage,  the  singer  shrank 
into  a  little  old  man,  very  vain,  very  shy,  but  as  willful  and 
capricious  as  a  woman.  All  the  affection  of  which  he  was 
capable  he  bestowed  on  a  wonderfully  beautiful  niece,  whom 
he  placed  at  the  head  of  his  household.  She  was  the  Madame 
Denis  of  this  strange  Voltaire,  and  he  intended  that  she  should 
inherit  his  vast  wealth.  The  handsome  heiress,  in  love  with 
a  Frenchman  named  the  Comt?  de  Lanty,  who  was  supposed 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  176 

to  be  a  highly  skilled  chemist,  though,  in  fact,  little  was 
known  of  his  antecedents,  had  great  difficulty  in  obtaining 
her  uncle's  consent  to  her  marriage  with  the  man  of  her 
choice.  And  when,  weary  of  disputing  the  matter,  he  gave 
in,  it  was  on  condition  of  not  parting  from  his  niece.  The 
better  to  secure  the  fulfillment  of  the  bargain,  he  gave  her 
nothing  on  her  marriage,  parting  with  none  of  his  fortune, 
which  he  spent  liberally  on  all  who  were  about  him. 

Bored  wherever  he  found  himself,  and  driven  by  a  perpetual 
longing  for  change,  the  fantastic  old  man  had  at  different 
times  taken  up  his  abode  in  the  remotest  parts  of  the  world, 
always  dragging  at  his  heels  the  family  party  whose  respect 
and  attachment  he  had  secured  at  least  for  life. 

In  1829,  when  he  was  nearly  a  hundred  years  old,  and  had 
sunk  into  a  sort  of  imbecility — though  still  keenly  alive  when 
he  listened  to  music — a  question  of  some  interest  to  the  Lantys 
and  their  two  children  brought  them  to  settle  in  a  splendid 
house  in  the  Faubourg  Saint-Honore.  They  there  received 
all  Paris.  The  world  was  attracted  by  the  still  splendid  beauty 
of  Madame  de  Lanty,  the  innocent  charm  of  her  daughter 
Marianina,  the  really  royal  magnificence  of  their  entertain- 
ments, and  a  peculiar  flavor  of  mystery  in  the  atmosphere 
about  these  remarkable  strangers.  With  regard  to  the  old 
man  particularly,  comments  were  endless ;  he  was  the  object 
of  so  much  care  and  consideration,  but  at  the  same  time  so 
like  a  petted  captive,  stealing  out  like  a  spectre  into  the  midst 
of  the  parties,  from  which  such  obvious  efforts  were  made  to 
keep  him  away,  while  he  seemed  to  find  malicious  enjoyment 
in  scaring  the  company,  like  an  apparition. 

The  gunshots  of  July,  1830,  put  this  phantom  to  flight. 
On  leaving  Paris,  to  the  great  annoyance  of  the  Lantys,  he 
insisted  on  returning  to  Rome,  his  native  city,  where  his 
presence  had  revived  the  humiliating  memories  of  the  past. 
But  Rome  was  his  last  earthly  stage ;  h^had  just  died  there, 
and  it  was  he  whom  we  had  seen  so  absurdly  dressed  oiit  and 


176  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

lying  in  state  in  the  Braschi  palace — he  also  on  whom  we 
now  looked,  in  all  his  youthful  beauty,  in  the  Albani  collec- 
tion. 

**  You  have  skill  enough  to  make  a  copy  of  this  statue,  I 
suppose?"  said  Desroziers. 

**  At  any  rate,  I  like  to  think  so." 

**  Well,  I  am  sure  of  it.  Get  leave  from  the  curator,  and 
set  to  work  forthwith.  I  know  of  a  purchaser  for  such  a 
copy." 

"Why,  who  will  buy  it  ?  " 

"The  Comte  de  Lanty,  to  be  sure.  I  am  giving  his 
daughter  lessons  in  harmony;  and  when  I  mention  in  his 
house  that  I  know  of  a  fine  copy  of  this  Adonis,  they  will 
never  rest  till  it  belongs  to  them." 

"  But  does  not  this  savor  somewhat  of  extortion  ?  " 

"  Not  in  the  least.  Some  time  since  the  Lantys  had  a 
painting  done  of  it  by  Vien,  as  they  could  not  purchase  the 
marble;  the  Albani  gallery  would  not  part  with  it  at  any 
price.  Various  attempts  have  been  made  at  reproducing  it  in 
sculpture,  but  all  have  failed.  You  have  only  to  succeed,  and 
you  will  be  paid  enough  for  forty  trips  to  Sicily,  for  you  will 
have  gratified  a  whim  which  has  become  hopeless,  and  which, 
when  the  price  is  paid,  will  still  think  itself  your  debtor." 

Two  days  later  I  had  begun  the  work ;  and  as  it  was  quite 
to  my  mind,  I  went  on  so  steadily  that,  three  weeks  later,  the 
Lanty  family,  all  in  deep  mourning,  invaded  my  studio,  under 
Desroziers'  guidance,  to  inspect  a  sketch  in  a  forward  stage 
of  completion. 

Marianina  was  at  that  time  one-and-twenty.  I  need  not 
describe  her,  since  you  know  Mrae.  de  I'Estorade,  whom  she 
strikingly  resembles.  This  charming  girl,  already  an  accom- 
plished musician,  had  a  remarkable  talent  for  every  form  of 
art.  Coming  from  time  to  time  to  my  studio  to  follow  the 
progress  of  my  work — which,  after  all,  was  fiever  finished,  as 
it  happened — she,  like  Princess  Marguerite  d' Orleans,  took  a 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  XTl 

fancy  for  sculpture,  and  until  the  family  left  Rome — some 
months  before  I  had  to  come  away — Mile,  de  Lanty  came  to 
me  for  lessons.  Nothing  could  be  further  from  my  thoughts 
than  any  idea  of  playing  the  part  of  Abelard  or  Saint-Pruex, 
but  I  may  say  I  was^iiiost  happy  in  my  teaching.  My  pupil 
was  so  intelligent,  and  so  apt  to  profit  by  the  slightest  hint ; 
she  had  at  once  such  a  bright  temper  and  such  ripe  judgment; 
her  voice,  when  she  sang,  went  so  straight  to  the  heart ;  and 
I  heard  so  constantly  from  the  servants,  who  adored  her,  of. 
her  noble,  generous,  and  charitable  actions,  that,  but  for  my 
knowing  of  her  vast  fortune,  which  kept  me  at  a  distance,  I 
might  have  run  into  the  danger  you  are  warning  me  to  avoid 
now. 

On  my  return  to  Paris,  my  first  visit  was  to  the  Hotel 
Lanty. 

Marian ina  was  too  well  bred,  and  too  sweet  by  nature,  ever 
to  make  herself  disagreeable  or  to  be  scornful ;  but  I  at  once 
perceived  that  a  singularly  cold  reserve  had  taken  the  place 
of  the  gracious  and  friendly  freedom  of  her  manner.  It 
struck  me  as  probable  that  the  liking  she  had  shown  me — not, 
indeed,  for  my  person,  but  for  my  mind  and  conversation — 
had  been  commented  on  by  her  family.  She  had  no  doubt 
been  lectured,  and  she  seemed  to  me  to  be  acting  under  strict 
orders,  as  I  could  easily  conclude  from  the  distant  and 
repellent  manner  of  M.  and  Mme.  de  Lanty. 

A  few  months  later,  at  the  Salon  of  1837,  I  fancied  I  saw  a 
corroboration  of  my  suspicions.  I  had  exhibited  a  statue  which 
made  some  sensation  ;  there  was  always  a  mob  round  my 
Pandora.  Mingling  with  the  crowd  I  used  to  stand  incognito^ 
to  enjoy  my  success  and  gather  my  laurels  fresh.  One  Friday, 
the  fashionable  day,  I  saw  from  afar  the  approach  of  the 
Lanty  family.  The  mother  was  on  the  arm  of  a  well-known 
"  buck,"  Comte  Maxime  de  Trailles  ;  Marianina  was  with  her 
brother ;  M.  de  Lanty,  who  looked  anxious,  as  usual,  was  alone ; 
and,  like  the  man  in  the  song  of  Malbrouck,  ^'  ne  portait 
12 


178  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

rien*'  (wore  nothing),  carried  nothing.  By  a  crafty  manoeuvre, 
while  the  party  were  pushing  their  way  through  the  crowd,  I 
slipped  behind  them  so  as  to  hear  what  they  thought,  without 
being  seen.  Nil  a^mirari—lh'mk  nothing  fine — is  the  natural 
instinct  of  every  man  of  fashion ;  so,  after  a  summary  inspec- 
tion of  my  work,  M.  de  Trailles  began  to  discover  the  most 
atrocious  faults,  and  his  verdict  was  pronounced  in  a  loud 
and  distinct  voice,  so  that  his  dictum  could  not  be  lost  on 
anybody  for  some  little  distance  round.  Marianina,  thinking 
differently,  listened  to  this  profound  critic  with  a  shrug  or 
two  of  her  shoulders ;  then  when  he  ceased — 

"  How  fortunate  it  is  !  "  said  she,  "  that  you  should  have 
come  with  us  !  But  for  your  enlightened  judgment  I  should 
have  been  quite  capable,  like  the  good-natured  vulgar,  of 
thinking  this  statue  beautiful.  It  is  really  a  pity  that  the 
sculptor  should  not  be  here  to  learn  his  business  from  you." 

"  But  that  is  just  where  he  is,  as  it  happens,  behind  you," 
said  a  stout  woman,  with  a  loud  shout  of  laughter — an  old 
woman  who  kept  carriages  for  hire,  and  to  whom  I  had  just 
nodded  as  the  owner  of  the  house  in  which  I  have  my  studio. 

Instinct  was  prompter  than  reflection  ;  Marianina  involun- 
tarily turned  round.  On  seeing  me,  a  faint  blush  colored  her 
face.     I  hastily  made  my  escape. 

A  girl  who  could  so  frankly  take  my  part,  and  then  betray 
so  much  confusion  at  being  discovered  in  her  advocacy,  would 
certainly  not  be  displeased  to  see  me ;  and  though  at  my  first 
visit  I  had  been  so  coldly  received,  having  now  been  made 
chevalier  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  in  recognition  of  my  ex- 
hibited work,  I  determined  to  try  again.  The  distinction 
conferred  on  me  might  possibly  gain  me  a  better  reception 
from  the  haughty  Comte  de  Lanty. 

I  was  admitted  by  an  old  servant  for  whom  Marianina  had 
great  regard. 

"Ah,  monsieur,"  said  he,  "  terrible  things  have  been  hap- 
pening here !  " 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  179 

"  Why — what  ?  "  cried  I  anxiously. 

**I  will  take  in  your  name,  sir,"  was  his  only  reply. 

A  minute  later  I  was  shown  into  M.  de  Lanty's  study. 

The  man  received  me  without  rising,  and  greeted  me  with 
these  words — 

**  I  admire  your  courage,  monsieur,  in  showing  yourself  in 
this  house  !  " 

"  But  I  have  not  been  treated  here,  as  yet,  in  a  way  that 
should  make  me  need  any  great  courage." 

"You  have  come,  no  doubt,"  M.  de  Lanty  went  on,  "to 
fetch  the  object  you  so  clumsily  allowed  to  fall  into  our  hands. 
I  will  return  you  that  elegant  affair." 

He  rose  and  took  out  of  his  writing-table  drawer  a  dainty 
little  pocket-book,  which  he  handed  to  me. 

As  I  looked  at  it  in  blank  amazement — 

"Oh,  the  letters,  to  be  sure,  are  not  there,"  he  said.  "I 
supposed  that  you  would  allow  me  to  keep  them." 

"  This  pocket-book — letters?  The  whole  thing  is  a  riddle 
to  me,  monsieur." 

At  this  moment  Mme.  de  Lanty  came  in. 

"  What  do  you  want  ?  "  asked  her  husband  roughly. 

"I  heard  that  M.  Dorlange  was  here,"  said  she,  "and  I 
fancied  that  there  might  be  some  unpleasant  passages  between 
you  and  him.     I  thought  it  ray  duty,  as  a  wife,  to  interpose." 

"Your  presence,  madame,"  said  I,  "  is  not  needed  to  im- 
pose perfect  moderation  on  me ;  the  whole  thing  is  the  result 
of  some  misunderstanding." 

"  Oh,  this  is  really  too  much  !  "  cried  M.  de  Lanty,  going 
again  to  the  drawer  from  which  he  had  taken  the  pocket- 
book.  And  rudely  pushing  into  my  hands  a  little  packet  of 
letters  tied  up  with  pink  ribbon,  he  went  on  :  "  Now,  I  im- 
agine the  misunderstanding  will  be  cleared  up." 

I  looked  at  the  letters  ;  they  had  not  been  through  the 
post,  and  were  all  addressed  ^^  A  Monsieur  Dorlange,^^  in  a 
woman's  writing  perfectly  unknown  to  me. 


180  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"Indeed,  monsieur,"  said  I  coldly,  "you  are  better  in- 
formed than  I  am.  You  have  in  your  possession  letters  which 
seem  to  belong  to  me,  but  which  have  never  reached  me." 

"On  my  word!  "  cried  M.  de  Lanty,  "it  must  be  con- 
fessed that  you  are  an  admirable  actor.  I  never  saw  inno- 
cence and  amazement  more  successfully  assumed." 

But,  while  he  was  speaking,  Mme.  de  Lanty  had  cleverly 
contrived  to  place  herself  behind  her  husband;  and  by  a 
perfectly  intelligible  pantomime  of  entreaty,  she  besought  me 
to  accept  the  situation  I  was  so  strenuously  denying.  My 
honor  was  too  deeply  implicated,  and  I  really  saw  too  little 
of  what  I  might  be  doing,  to  feel  inclined  to  surrender  at 
once.     So,  with  the  hope  of  feeling  my  way  a  little,  I  said — 

"  But,  monsieur,  from  whom  are  these  letters  ?  Who  ad- 
dressed them  to  me?" 

"From  whom  are  the  letters?"  exclaimed  M.  de  Lanty, 
in  a  tone  in  which  irony  was  merged  in  indignation. 

"Denial  is  useless,  monsieur,"  Madame  de  Lanty  put  in. 
"Marianina  has  confessed  everything." 

"Mademoiselle  Marianina  wrote  those  letters — to  me?" 
replied  L  "Then  there  iS  a  simple  issue  to  the  matter;  con- 
front her  with  me.  From  her  lips  I  will  accept  the  most 
improbable  statements  as  true." 

"The  trick  is  gallant  enough,"  retorted  M.  de  Lanty. 
"  But  Marianina  is  no  longer  here ;  she  is  in  a  convent,  shel- 
tered for  ever  from  your  audacity  and  from  the  temptations  of 
her  ridiculous  passion.  If  this  is  what  you  came  to  learn, 
now  you  know  it.  That  is  enough,  for  I  will  not  deny  that 
my  patience  and  moderation  have  limits,  if  your  impudence 
knows  none." 

"  Monsieur  !  "  cried  I,  in  great  excitement. 

The  next  day  I  received  a  visit  from  the  Abbe  Fontanon, 
the  comtesse's  confessor. 

As  soon  as  he  was  seated,  he  began — 

"  Monsieur,  Mme.    la   Comtesse  de   Lanty  does   me   the 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR   ARCIS.  181 

honor  of  accepting  me  as  the  keeper  of  her  conscience. 
From  her  I  have  heard  of  a  scene  that  took  place  yesterday 
between  you  and  her  husband.  Prudence  would  not  at  the 
time  allow  of  her  giving  some  explanations  to  which  you 
have  an  undoubted  right,  and  I  have  undertaken  to  commu- 
nicate them  to  you — that  is  the  reason  of  my  presence  here." 

"  I  am  listening,  sir,"  was  all  I  replied. 

"Some  weeks  ago,"  the  priest  went  on,  "  M.  de  Lanty 
purchased  an  estate  in  the  neighborhood  of  Paris,  and  took 
advantage  of  the  fine  weather  to  go  thither  with  his  family. 
M.  de  Lanty  sleeps  badly ;  one  night  when  he  was  lying 
awake  in  the  dark,  he  fancied  he  heard  footsteps  below  his 
window,  which  he  at  once  opened,  calling  out :  *  Who's 
there  ? '  in  emphatic  tones,  to  the  nocturnal  visitor  he  sus- 
pected. Nor  was  he  mistaken,  there  was  somebody  there — 
somebody  who  made  no  answer,  but  took  to  his  heels,  two 
pistol-shots  fired  by  M.  de  Lanty  having  no  effect.  At  first 
it  was  supposed  that  the  stranger  was  bent  on  robbery  ;  this, 
however,  did  not  seem  likely ;  the  house  was  not  furnished, 
the  owners  had  only  the  most  necessary  things  for  a  short 
stay  ;  thieves,  consequently,  who  generally  are  well-informed, 
could  not  expect  to  find  anything  of  value ;  and  beside,  some 
information  reached  M.  de  Lanty  which  gave  his  suspicions 
another  direction.  He  was  told  that,  two  days  after  his 
arrival,  a  fine  young  man  had  taken  a  bedroom  in  an  inn  at 
the  neighboring  village  ;  that  this  gentleman  seemed  anxious 
to  keep  out  of  sight,  and  had  several  times  gone  out  at  night ; 
so  not  a  robber  evidently — but  a  lover." 

"  I  have  never  met  with  a  romancer,  M.  I'Abbe,"  said  I, 
"  who  told  his  story  in  better  style." 

By  this  not  very  complimentary  insinuation,  I  hoped  to  in- 
duce the  speaker  to  abridge  his  story ;  for,  as  you  may  suppose, 
I  wanted  to  hear  the  end. 

*'  My  romance  is,  unfortunately,  painful  fact,"  replied  he. 
*' You  will  see.    M.  de  Lanty  had  for  some  time  been  watching 


182  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

his  daughter,  whose  vehement  passions  must,  he  feared,  ere 
long,  result  in  an  explosion.  You  yourself,  monsieur,  had  in 
Rome  given  him  some  uneasiness " 

"Quite  gratuitous,  M.  I'Abbe,"  I  put  in. 

"Yes.  I  know  that  in  all  your  acquaintance  with  Mile,  de 
Lanty  your  behavior  has  been  perfectly  correct.  And,  in- 
deed, their  leaving  Rome  put  an  end  to  this  first  ground  for 
uneasiness;  but  in  Paris  another  figure  seemed  to  fill  her  young 
mind,  and  day  after  day  M.  de  Lanty  purposed  coming  to 
some  explanation  with  his  daughter. 

"A  maid,  accused  of  receiving  a  young  man  who  had  been 
prowling  around,  was  desired  to  leave  the  house  at  once. 
This  woman's  father  is  a  violent-tempered  man,  and  if  she 
returned  home  charged  with  anything  so  disgraceful  she  would 
meet  with  ruthless  severity  of  treatment.  Mile,  de  Lanty — 
that  much  justice  I  must  do  her — had  a  Christian  impulse ; 
she  could  not  allow  an  innocent  person  to  be  punished  in  her 
stead  ;  she  threw  herself  at  her  father's  feet,  and  confessed 
that  the  nocturnal  visit  had  been  for  her ;  and  though  she  had 
not  authorized  it,  she  was  not  altogether  surprised. 

"  M.  de  Lanty  at  once  named  the  supposed  culprit ;  but 
she  would  not  admit  that  he  had  guessed  rightly,  though  she 
refused  to  mention  any  other  name  instead. 

"What,  then,  was  to  be  done?  It  was  the  imprudent  girl 
herself  who  suggested  the  idea  of  giving  a  name  which,  while 
justifying  M.  de  Lanty's  fury,  would  not  cry  to  him  for  ven- 
geance." 

"I  understand,"  I  interrupted.  "The  name  of  a  man  of 
no  birth,  a  person  of  no  consequence,  an  artist  perhaps,  a 
sculptor,  or  some  such  low  fellow " 

"  I  think,  monsieur,"  said  the  abbe,  "  that  you  are  ascribing 
to  Mademoiselle  de  Lanty  a  feeling  to  which  she  is  quite  a 
stranger.  In  my  opinion  her  love  of  the  arts  is  only  too 
strongly  pronounced,  and  that  perhaps  is  what  has  led  to  this 
unfortunate  laxity  of  imagination." 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  183 

"And  then,  M.  I'Abbe,  what  about  the  pocket-book — the 
letters — which  played  so  strange  a  part  in  yesterday's 
scene  ?  " 

"  That  again  was^  device  of  Marianina's ;  and  though,  as  it 
has  turned  out,  the  strange  inventiveness  of  her  wit  has  had  a 
good  result,  it  was  this  in  her  character  which,  if  she  had  re- 
mained in  the  world,  would  have  given  cause  for  uneasiness. 
When  once  she  and  Mme.  de  Lanty  had  agreed  that  you  were 
to  be  the  night-prowler,  the  statement  had  to  be  supported  by 
evidence  to  favor  its  success.  Instead  of  words,  this  terrible 
young  lady  determined  to  act  in  that  sense.  She  spent  the 
night  in  writing  the  letters  you  saw.  She  used  different  kinds 
of  paper,  ink  of  which  she  altered  the  tone,  and  she  carefully 
varied  the  writing ;  she  forgot  nothing.  Having  written  them, 
she  placed  them  in  a  pocket-book  her  father  had  never  seen ; 
and  then,  after  having  made  a  hunting-dog  smell  it  all  over — 
a  dog  noted  for  its  intelligence  and  allowed  in  the  house — 
she  threw  the  whole  thing  into  a  clump  of  shrubs  in  the  park, 
and  came  back  to  endure  her  father's  angry  cross-examina- 
tion. 

"The  same  sharp  contest  had  begun  once  more  when  the  dog 
came  in  carrying  the  pocket-book  to  his  young  mistress.  She 
acted  agonized  alarm  ;  M.  de  Lanty  pounced  on  the  object, 
and  to  him  everything  was  clear — he  was  deluded,  as  had  been 
intended." 

"And  all  these  details,"  said  I,  with  no  great  air  of  cre- 
dulity, "  were  reported  to  you  by  Mme.  de  Lanty?" 

"  Confided  to  me,  monsieur,  and  you  yourself  had  proof 
yesterday  of  their  exactitude.  Your  refusal  to  recognize  the 
situation  might  have  undone  everything,  and  that  was  why 
Mme.  de  Lanty  interposed." 

"And  Mademoiselle  Marianina?"  I  asked. 

"As  M.  de  Lanty  told  you,  she  was  immediately  sent  away 
to  a  convent  in  Italy." 

Even  if  my  self-respect  had  not  been  so  aggrieved  by  this 


184  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

Story — if  it  were  true — I  should  have  felt  some  doubts,  for  does 
it  not  strike  you  as  rather  too  romantic  ?  However,  an  ex- 
planation has  since  offered  itself,  which  may  afford  a  clue  to 
the  facts.  Not  long  ago  Marianina's  brother  married  into  the 
family  of  a  German  grand-duke.  The  Lantys  must  have  had 
to  sacrifice  immense  sums  to  achieve  such  an  alliance.  May 
not  Marianina  have  paid  the  expenses  of  this  royal  alliance, 
since  she,  by  her  grand-uncle's  will,  had  the  bulk  of  his  for- 
tune, and  was  disinherited  by  taking  the  veil  ?  Or,  again, 
may  she  not  have  really  felt  for  me  the  affection  expressed  in 
her  letters,  and  have  been  childish  enough  to  write  them, 
though  she  would  not  go  so  far  as  to  send  them  ? 

I  can  believe  anything  of  these  Lantys.  The  head  of  the 
family  has  always  seemed  to  me  a  very  deep  and  crafty  char- 
acter, capable  at  a  pinch  of  the  blackest  designs ;  and  then,  if 
you  remember  that  these  people  have  all  their  lives  slept,  as 
it  were,  on  the  secret  knowledge  of  a  fortune  so  ignobly 
earned,  is  it  not  conceivable  that  they  should  be  ripe  for  any 
kind  of  intrigues,  or  can  you  imagine  them  dainty  in  their 
choice  of  means  to  an  end  ? 

And  I  may  add  that  the  official  intervention  of  the  Abb6 
Fontanon  justifies  the  worst  imputations.  I  have  made  in- 
quiries about  him ;  he  is  one  of  those  mischief-making  priests 
who  are  always  eager  to  have  a  finger  in  private  family  affairs; 
and  it  was  he  who  helped  to  upset  the  home  of  M.  de  Gran- 
ville, attorney-general  in  Paris  under  the  Restoration. 

And  is  it  not  a  really  diabolical  coincidence  that  my  chisel 
should  be  called  upon  to  execute  a  pale  daughter  of  the  clois- 
ter? Under  these  circumstances  was  not  my  imagination 
inevitably  memory ;  could  I  invent  any  image  but  that  which 
possesses  my  soul  and  is  so  deeply  graven  on  my  brain  ?  And 
behold  !  a  second  Marianina  rises  up  before  me  in  the  flesh; 
and  when,  for  the  better  furtherance  of  the  work,  the  artist 
takes  advantage  of  this  stroke  of  fortune,  he  must  be  supposed, 
forsooth,  to  have  transferred  his  affections.     Could  that  frigid 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  185 

Mme.  de  I'Estorade  ever  fill  the  place  of  my  enchanting  pupil 
with  the  added  charm  and  halo  of  forbidden  fruit  and  of  mys- 
tery ?     In  short,  you  must  give  up  all  your  imaginings. 

The  other  day  I  was  within  an  ace  of  relating  the  whole 
romance  of  Mademoiselle  de  Lanty  to  her  supposed  rival. 
And  if  I  really  aspired  to  this  woman's  favor — but  she  can 
love  no  one  but  her  children — a  pretty  way  of  courting  her  it 
would  be,  I  may  say,  to  tell  her  that  little  tale.  And  so,  to 
return  to  our  starting-point,  I  care  no  more  for  M.  Bixiou's 
opinion  than  for  last  year's  roses.  And  so,  I  really  do  not 
know  whether  I  am  in  love  with  Marianina ;  but  I  am  quite 
sure  that  I  am  not  in  love  with  Madame  de  I'Estorade.  This, 
it  seems  to  me,  is  a  plain  and  honest  answer. 

Now,  let  us  leave  things  to  the  future,  who  is  the  master  of 
us  all. 

THE  COMTESSE  DE  l'esTORADE   TO  MADAME  OCTAVE  DE  CAMPS. 

Paris,  April,  1839. 

My  DEAR  Madame: — M.  Dorlange  came  last  evening  to 
take  leave  of  us.  He  is  starting  to-day  for  Arcis-sur-Aube, 
where  he  is  to  see  his  statue  set  up  in  its  place.  That  also  is 
the  town  where  the  opposition  are  about  to  propose  him  as 
their  candidate.  M.  de  I'Estorade  declares  that  no  worse 
choice  could  have  been  made,  and  that  he  has  not  a  chance 
of  being  elected — but  this  is  not  what  I  have  to  write 
about. 

M.  Dorlange  called  early  after  dinner.  I  was  alone,  for  M. 
de  I'Estorade  was  dining  with  the  minister  of  the  Interior; 
and  the  children,  who  had  been  on  a  long  excursion  in  the 
afternoon,  had  of  their  own  accord  begged  to  go  to  bed  before 
the  usual  hour.  Thus  the  conversation  previously  interrupted 
by  Madame  de  la  Bastie  was  naturally  reopened  ;  and  I  was 
about  to  ask  M.  Dorlange  to  finish  the  story,  of  which  he  had 
only  given  me  a  hint  of  the  end,  when  old  Lucas  came  in. 


186  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

bringing  me  a  letter.  It  was  from  my  Armand,  to  tell  me 
that  he  had  been  in  the  sick-room  all  day,  very  unwell. 

"  I  want  the  carriage,"  said  I  to  Lucas,  with  such  agitation 
as  you  may  suppose. 

"  Well,  madame,  but  monsieur  ordered  it  to  fetch  him  at 
half-past  eight,  and  Tony  is  gone,"  replied  Lucas. 

"Then  get  me  a  hackney-coach." 

"  I  am  sure  I  don't  know  whether  I  can  find  one,"  said 
the  old  man,  who  always  raises  difficulties.  "  It  has  just  be- 
gun to  rain." 

Without  noticing  this  objection,  and  quite  forgetting  M. 
Dorlange,  whom  I  left  somewhat  embarrassed,  not  liking  to 
leave  without  saying  adieu,  I  went  to  my  room  to  put  on  my 
bonnet  and  shawl.  Having  done  so  in  great  haste,  I  returned 
to  the  drawing-room,  where  I  still  found  my  visitor. 

"  You  must  excuse  me,  monsieur,"  said  I,  "  for  leaving  you 
so  abruptly ;  I  am  hurrying  off  to  the  College  Henri  IV.  I 
could  not  endure  to  spend  the  night  in  such  anxiety  as  I  am 
feeling  in  consequence  of  a  note  from  my  son,  who  tells  me 
that  he  has  been  in  the  sick-room  all  day." 

"  But  surely,"  said  M.  Dorlange,  "you  are  not  going  alone 
in  a  hackney-coach  to  such  an  out-of-the-way  part  of  the 
town?" 

'*  Lucas  will  come  with  me." 

At  this  moment  Lucas  came  in  again.  His  words  were  ful- 
filled ;  there  was  not  a  hack  to  be  had,  and  it  was  pouring  in 
torrents.  Time  was  flying ;  it  was  almost  too  late  already  to 
visit  the  school,  where  everybody  would  be  in  bed  by  nine 
o'clock. 

"  I  must  go,"  said  I  to  Lucas.  "Go  and  put  on  your  thick 
shoes,  and  we  will  go  on  foot  with  umbrellas." 

I  saw  the  man's  face  lengthen  ;  he  is  no  longer  young  ;  he 
likes  his  ease,  and  he  complains  of  rheumatism  in  the  winter. 
He  suddenly  found  a  number  of  objections  ;  it  was  very  late ; 
we  should  revolutionize  the  school ;  I  should  certainly  catch 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  187 

cold  ;  M.  Armand  could  not  be  very  ill  since  he  had  written 
himself — my  plan  of  campaign  was  evidently  not  at  all  to  my 
old  man's  mind. 

Then  M.  Dorl^nge  very  obligingly  offered  to  go  for  me  and 
come  back  to  report  the  invalid,  but  such  half-measures  will 
not  do  for  me — I  wanted  to  see,  and  satisfy  myself.  So,  with 
many  thanks  to  him,  I  said  to  Lucas  in  an  authoritative 
tone — 

"  Come,  go  and  get  ready,  and  be  quick,  for  one  thing  you 
have  said  that  is  perfectly  true — it  is  growing  late." 

Thus  nailed  to  the  point,  Lucas  boldly  hoisted  the  flag  of 
rebellion. 

**  It  is  simply  impossible,  madame,  that  you  should  go  out 
in  such  weather,  and  I  do  not  want  to  get  a  scolding  from  the 
master  for  giving  in  to  any  such  idea." 

"Then  you  simply  do  not  mean  to  obey  me?  " 

"You  know,  madame,  that  for  anything  useful  or  reason- 
able I  would  do  whatever  you  might  order,  even  if  it  were  to 
walk  through  fire." 

"  To  be  sure,  warmth  is  good  for  the  rheumatism,  and  rain 
is  bad  for  it." 

Then  I  turned  to  M.  Dorlange  without  listening  to  the  old 
rebel's  reply,  and  said  to  him — 

"  Since  you  were  good  enough  to  offer  to  go  alone  on  this 
errand,  I  venture  to  hope  that  you  will  not  refuse  me  the  sup- 
port of  your  arm." 

"Like  Lucas,"  said  he,  "I  do  not  see  that  this  expedition 
is  indispensable ;  however,  as  I  have  no  fear  of  being  scolded 
by  M.  de  I'Estorade,  I  will,  of  course,  have  the  honor  of 
escorting  you." 

We  set  out.  The  weather  really  was  horrible ;  we  had  not 
gone  fifty  yards  when  we  were  already  drenched,  in  spite  of 
Lucas'  vast  umbrella,  held  by  M.  Dorlange  so  as  to  shelter  me 
by  sacrificing  himself.  Then  a  new  complication  arose.  A 
hackney-coach  went  past ;  my  companion  hailed  the  driver ; 


188  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

it  was  empty.  To  tell  my  escort  that  I  could  not  allow  him 
to  get  in  with  me  was  out  of  the  question.  Not  only  would 
such  an  implied  doubt  have  been  grossly  uncivil,  but  it  would 
have  been  derogatory  to  myself  even  to  suggest  it.  And  yet, 
you  see,  my  dear  friend,  what  slippery  ways  we  tread,  and 
how  true  it  is  that  from  the  time  of  Dido  and  ^neas  rain  has 
always  served  the  turn  of  lovers  ! 

When  we  reached  the  school,  M.  Dorlange,  after  handing 
me  out,  understood  that  he  could  not  go  in  with  me ;  he  got 
into  the  coach  again  to  wait  for  me. 

Master  Armand's  indisposition  was  som'ewhat  of  a  practical 
joke  so  far  as  I  was  concerned.  His  illness  was  no  more  than 
a  headache,  which  since  his  note  was  written  had  completely 
disappeared.  The  doctor,  who  had  seen  him  in  the  morning, 
to  order  something,  had  prescribed  lime-flower  tea,  and  told 
him  he  could  return  to  the  class-room  next  day.  So  I  had 
taken  a  sledge-hammer  to  kill  a  flea,  and  committed  a  pre- 
posterous blunder  in  arriving  at  an  hour  when  all  the  staff 
were  in  bed,  to  find  my  young  gentleman  still  up  and  playing 
a  game  of  chess  with  one  of  the  attendants. 

By  the  time  I  went  out  again  the  rain  had  ceased,  and 
bright  moonlight  silvered  the  pavement,  which  the  rain  had 
so  thoroughly  washed  that  there  was  not  a  sign  of  mud.  I 
was  so  oppressed  and  vexed  that  I  longed  for  the  fresh  air. 
So  I  begged  M.  Dorlange  to  send  away  the  coach,  and  we 
walked  home. 

"Come,"  thought  I,  "we  must  come  to  an  end  of  this 
story,  which  is  always  interrupted,  like  the  famous  anecdote 
of  Sancho's  goatherd  which  could  never  be  told." 

So,  cutting  short  the  theories  of  education,  which  he  had 
advanced : 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  said  I  to  my  earnest  companion,  **  that 
this  would  be  a  good  opportunity  for  going  on  with  the  con- 
fidential narrative  in  which  you  were  interrupted.  Here  we 
are  quite  safe  from  any  intrusion." 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  189 

"I  am  afraid,"  said  M.  Dorlange,  "that  I  am  but  a  bad 
narrator,  I  exhausted  all  my  genius  the  other  day  in  com- 
municating the  history  to  Marie-Gaston." 

**That,"  said  I,  with  a  laugh,  "is  against  your  principles 
of  secrecy,  in  wtfich  a  third  person  is  one  too  many." 

"Oh,  Marie-Gaston  and  I  are  but  one  person.  Beside,  I 
had  to  give  some  answer  to  the  odd  fancies  he  had  formed  as 
to  you  and  me." 

"  What — as  to  me  !  " 

"Yes.  He  opines  that  by  staring  too  hard  at  the  sun  one 
may  be  dazzled  by  its  rays." 

"Which,  in  less  metaphorical  language,  means? " 

"  That  seeing  how  strange  the  circumstances  were  that  led 
to  my  having  the  honor  of  your  acquaintance,  I  might  possi- 
bly, madame,  in  your  society,  fail  to  preserve  my  common- 
sense  and  self-possession." 

"  And  your  story  answers  this  hypothesis  of  M.  Marie- 
Gaston's?" 

"You  shall  judge,"  said  M.  Dorlange. 

And  then,  without  further  preamble,  he  told  me  a  rather 
long  story,  which  I  do  not  repeat  to  you,  my  dear  madame, 
because  on  the  one  hand  it  has  really  nothing  to  do  with  your 
functions  as  keeper  of  my  conscience,  and  on  the  other  it  is 
mixed  up  with  a  family  secret  which  demands  more  discretion 
on  my  part  than  I  could  have  anticipated. 

The  upshot  of  the  matter  is  that  M.  Dorlange  is  in  love 
with  the  womanwho  had  sat  in  his  imagination  for  the  Sainte- 
Ursule.  Still,  as  it  must  be  said  that  she  is  apparently  for 
ever  out  of  his  reach,  it  did  not  seem  to  me  quite  impossible 
that  he  might  sooner  or  later  transfer  to  me  the  feeling  he  still 
preserves  for  her.  Hence,  when,  having  finished  his  narra- 
tive, he  asked  me  whether  I  did  not  take  it  as  a  triumphant 
refutation  of  our  mutual  friend's  absurd  and  groundless  fears, 
I  could  but  reply — 

"  Modesty  makes  it  incumbent  on  me  to  share  your  con- 


190  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

fidence.  At  the  same  time,  a  cannon-ball  often  kills  by  rico- 
chet." 

"  And  you  believe  me  guilty  of  the  audacity  which  Marie- 
Gaston  fears  may  be  so  fatal  to  me?" 

"  I  do  not  know  that  it  would  be  audacity,"  said  I,  rather 
harshly  ;  *'  but  if  you  had  such  a  fancy  and  took  it  to  heart, 
I  should,  I  own,  think  you  greatly  to  be  pitied." 

His  reply  was  a  home-thrust — 

"  Well,  madame,  you  need  not  pity  me.  In  my  opinion, 
first  love  is  a  kind  of  vaccination  which  saves  a  man  from 
catching  the  complaint  a  second  time." 

This  closed  the  conversation ;  the  story  had  been  a  long 
one,  and  we  were  at  home.  I  asked  M.  Dorlange  to  come 
upstairs,  a  politeness  he  accepted,  remarking  that  M.  de  I'Es- 
torade  had  probably  come  in,  and  he  could,  therefore,  say 
adieu  to  Iiim. 

My  husband  was  in  fact  at  home.  I  do  not  know  whether 
Lucas,  to  anticipate  the  blame  I  should  have  cast  on  him,  had 
done  his  best  to  misrepresent  my  proceedings,  or  whether  my 
maternal  exploit  prompted  M.  de  I'Estorade,  for  the  first  time 
in  his  life,  to  a  spasm  of  je.alousy  of  which  he  was  unable  to 
conceal  the  unfamiliar  symptoms;  at  any  rate,  he  received 
me  with  an  indignant  rating,  saving  that  nothing  was  so  un- 
heard of  as  the  idea  of  going  out  at  this  hour,  and  in  such 
weather,  to  inquire  after  an  invalid  who,  by  announcing  his 
illness  himself,  showed  it  was  not  in  the  least  serious. 

After  allowing  him  to  go  on  for  some  time  in  a  highly  un- 
becoming manner,  I  thought  it  was  time  to  put  an  end  to  the 
scene. 

"  Well,"  said  I  sharply,  "  I  wish  to  get  some  sleep  to-night ; 
I  went  to  the  school  in  pouring  rain.  Now  I  have  come  back 
in  beautiful  moonlight,  and  I  beg  to  remind  you  that  after 
kindly  consenting  to  escort  me,  M.  Dorlange,  who  leaves 
Paris  to-morrow,  came  upstairs  to  bid  you  farewell." 

I  have  habitually  too  much  influence  over  M.  de  I'Estorade 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  191 

for  this  call  to  order  to  fail  of  its  effect ;  still,  I  could  see  that 
there  was  something  of  the  aggrieved  husband  in  his  tone* 
for,  having  brought  in  M.  Dorlange  to  divert  his  thoughts,  I 
soon  perceived  that  I  had  but  made  him  a  victim  to  my  ogre's 
ill-temper,  which '^jras  now  vented  on  him. 

"Listen  to  me,  my  dear  sir,"  said  M.  de  I'Estorade  to  his 
victim,  "when  a  man  rushes  into  a  parliamentary  career,  he 
must  remember  that  he  has  to  show  every  card — his  public 
and  his  private  life.  His  adversaries  overhaul  his  past  and 
present  with  merciless  hands,  and  woe  to  him  whose  life  has 
the  shadow  of  a  stain  !  Well,  I  may  tell  you  painly,  this 
evening  a  little  scandal  was  raked  up — a  very  little  one  in  the 
life  of  an  artist,  but  one  which,  as  affecting  a  representative  of 
the  people,  assumes  far  more  serious  proportions.  You  under- 
stand me.  I  am  alluding  to  the  handsome  Italian  woman  who 
lives  under  your  roof  Take  care;  you  may  be  called  to 
account  by  some  puritan  voter  for  the  more  or  less  doubtful 
morality  of  her  connection  with  you." 

M.  Dorlange's  reply  was  very  dignified — 

"  I  can  have  but  one  wish  for  those  who  choose  to  question 
me  on  that  detail  of  my  domestic  life,"  said  he,  "  and  that  is 
that  they  may  have  nothing  worse  to  look  back  upon  in  theirs. 
If  I  had  not  already  bored  Madame  la  Comtesse  with  one 
interminable  story  during  our  walk  home,  I  would  tell  you 
that  of  the  pretty  Italian,  and  you  would  see  that  her  presence 
in  my  house  need  deprive  me  of  none  of  the  esteem  you  have 
kindly  honored  me  with." 

"But  indeed,"  said  M.  de  I'Estorade,  suddenly  mollified 
by  hearing  that  our  long  walk  had  been  spent  in  narrating 
history,  "  you  take  my  remarks  far  too  seriously  !  As  I  said 
but  just  now,  an  artist  needs  a  handsome  model,  nothing  can 
be  more  natural ;  but  it  is  a  piece  of  furniture  that  is  of  no 
use  to  gentlemen  engaged  in  politics." 

"What  appears  to  be  of  more  use  to  them,"  retorted  M. 
Dorlange,  with  some  vivacity,  "  is  the  advantage  that  may  be 


192  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

taken  of  a  calumny  greedily  accepted  with  evil  haste,  and 
with  no  effort  to  verify  it." 

"So  you  are  going  to-morrow?"  asked  M.  de  I'Estorade, 
finding  that  he  had  started  on  a  path  where,  instead  of  bring- 
ing M.  Dorlange  to  confusion,  he  had  afforded  him  an  oppor- 
tunity of  answering  with  no  little  haughtiness  of  tone  and 
phrase. 

"Yes,  and  early  in  the  day,  so  that  I  will  have  the  honor 
now  of  wishing  you  good-night,  for  I  still  have  some  packing 
to  finish." 

With  these  words  M.  Dorlange  rose,  and  after  bowing  to 
me  rather  formally,  he  left  the  room,  not  shaking  hands  with 
my  husband,  who,  indeed,  did  not  offer  him  the  opportunity. 

M.  de  I'Estorade,  to  avoid  the  impending  and  inevitable 
explanation,  at  once  exclaimed — 

"  Well,  and  what  was  the  matter  with  Armand?" 

"What  was  the  matter  with  Armand  matters  little?"  re- 
plied I,  "  as  you  may  suppose  from  my  having  returned  with- 
out him  and  showing  no  anxiety ;  what  is  a  far  more  interest- 
ing question  is  what  is  the  matter  with  you,  for  I  never  saw 
you  so  out  of  tune,  so  bitter  and  cross-grained." 

"  What !  Because  I  told  that  ridiculous  candidate  that  he 
might  go  into  mourning  at  once  over  his  chances?  " 

"  In  the  first  place,  it  was  not  complimentary,  and  at  any 
rate  the  time  was  ill-chosen,  when  my  motherly  alarms  had 
just  inflicted  an  odious  amount  of  trouble  on  the  man  you 
attacked." 

"I  cannot  stand  officious  people,"  retorted  M.  de  I'Esto- 
rade, in  a  higher  tone  than  he  usually  adopts  with  me.  "And, 
after  all,  if  this  gentleman  had  not  been  on  the  spot  to  offer 
you  his  escort,  you  would  not  have  set  out  on  this  unseemly 
expedition." 

"  You  are  mistaken.  I  should  have  gone  in  a  still  more 
unseemly  manner;  for  I  should  have  gone  alone,  as  your 
servants  are  the  masters  here,  and  refused  to  escort  me." 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  193 

"  But,  after  all,  you  must  confess  that  if  any  one  had  met 
you  at  half-past  nine  at  night,  walking  arm  in  arm  with  M. 
Dorlange,  out  by  the  Pantheon,  it  would  have  been  thought 
strange,  to  say  the  ^east." 

Then,  affecting  to"  have  just  discovered  what  I  had  known 
for  an  hour  past — 

"Bless  me,  monsieur!"  cried  I,  "after  fifteen  years  of 
married  life  are  you  doing  me  the  honor  of  being  jealous  for 
the  first  time  ?  Then,  indeed,  I  can  understand  that,  in 
spite  of  your  regard  for  the  proprieties,  you  took  advantage 
of  my  being  present  to  question  M.  Dorlange  on  the  not  very 
proper  subject  of  the  woman  who  is  supposed  to  be  his  mis- 
tress. It  was  neither  more  nor  less  than  very  basely  perfidi- 
ous ;  you  were  trying  to  lower  him  in  my  eyes." 

Thus  riddled  with  shot,  my  hapless  husband  tried  indeed  to 
beat  about  the  bush,  and  at  last  found  no  better  alternative 
than  to  ring  for  Lucas,  whom  he  lectured  pretty  sharply ;  and 
there  the  matter  ended. 

But,  then,  what  is  to  be  said  of  the  conjugal  tact  which, 
while  trying  to  make  the  man — of  whom  I  had  really  been 
thinking  too  much — commit  himself  in  my  presence,  gave 
him  an  opportunity  of  appearing  in  a  better  light  than  ever, 
and  to  the  greatest  advantage  ?  For  there  is  no  doubt  what- 
ever that  the  indignation  with  which  M.  Dorlange  retaliated 
on  the  malignancy  of  which  he  was  the  object  was  the  answer 
of  an  easy  conscience,  sure,  too,  of  being  able  to  refute  the 
calumny. 

Are  there,  then,  in  the  midst  of  our  small  and  colorless 
society  still  some  characters  so  strongly  tempered  that  they 
can  walk  on  the  very  precipice  of  opportunity  and  never  fall ! 
What  a  nature  must  that  be  that  can  plunge  through  thorns 
and  leave  no  wool  !  I  had  fancied  I  could  make  a  friend  of 
him  ! 

Nay,  I  will  not  play  at  that  game.     Supposing  this  Dante 
Alighieri  of  the  chisel  to  be  convinced  at  last  that  his  Beatrice 
13. 


194  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

will  never  return  to  him ;  supposing  that  he  should  again,  as 
he  has  done  once  already,  look  round  on  me — what  could  I 
do  ?  Is  a  woman  ever  safe  against  the  powerful  fascination 
that  such  a  man  must  exert  ?  As  M.  de  Montriveau  said  to  the 
poor  Duchesse  de  Langeais,  not  only  must  she  never  touch  the 
axe,  but  she  must  keep  as  far  from  it  as  she  can,  for  fear  that 
a  beam  reflected  from  such  polished  steel  should  blind  her 
eyes. 

Happily,  M.  de  I'Estorade  is  already  hostile  to  this  dan- 
gerous man  ;  but  my  husband  may  be  quite  easy,  I  shall  take 
care  to  encourage  and  cultivate  this  germ  of  enmity.  And, 
beside  this,  if  M.  Dorlange  should  be  elected,  he  and  my  hus- 
band will  be  in  opposite  camps ;  and  political  passions — thank 
heaven  ! — have  often  cut  short  older  and  better  established 
intimacies  than  this. 

"But  he  saved  your  little  girl,"  you  will  say,  "you  were 
afraid  of  his  loving  you,  and  he  does  not  think  of  you  at  all ; 
he  is  a  man  of  cultivated  intellect  and  magnanimous  feeling, 
with  whom  there  is  not  a  fault  to  be  found  ! " 

What  arguments  are  these,  my  dear  lady?  He  frightens 
me,  and  that  is  enough.  And  when  I  am  frightened,  I  neither 
argue  nor  reason ;  I  only  consider  whether  I  have  legs  and 
breath,  and  simply  run  and  run  till  I  feel  myself  in  safety. 

DORLANGE  TO   MARIE-GASTON. 

Paris,  April,  1839. 
On  coming  in  from  taking  leave  of  the  Estorades,  I  find 
your  letter,  my  dear  friend,  announcing  your  immediate  ar- 
rival. I  will  wait  here  all  to-morrow ;  but  in  the  evening, 
without  any  further  delay,  I  must  set  out  for  Arcis-sur-Aube, 
where,  within  a  week,  the  end  of  my  political  struggle  is  to  be 
fought  out.  What  supporters  and  abettors  I  have  in  that  town 
which — as  I  am  informed — I  am  so  anxious  to  represent ;  on 
whose  help  or  opposition  \  ara  to  build  my  hopes  >  in  Qne 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  195 

word,  who  it  is  that  is  making  this  electoral  bed  for  me  to  lie 
in — of  all  this  I  know  no  more  than  I  did  a  year  ago  when  I 
was  first  apprised  of  my  parliamentary  vocation. 

Only  a  few  days  since  did  I  receive  a  communication 
emanating  from  the  "paternal  office,  not  from  Stockholm  this 
time,  but  with  the  Paris  postmark. 

The  note  has  a  title  or  heading ;  as  thus : 

WHAT   MY    SON   IS    TO   DO. 

On  receipt  of  "  these  presents  "  I  am  to  send  off  the  '*  Sainte- 
Ursule,"  to  see  it  packed  myself  in  a  case,  and  address  it,  by 
quick  goods  wagon,  to  Mother  Marie  des  Anges,  superior  of 
the  house  of  the  Ursuline  Sisters  at  Arcis-sur-Aube,  AUBE — 
you  understand?  In  fact,  but  for  this  added  information  I 
might  have  fancied  that  Arcis-sur-Aube  was  situated  in  the  de- 
partment of  the  Gironde  or  of  Finisterre.  I  am  there  to  make 
an  arrangement  with  the  carrier's  agents  to  insure  the  delivery 
of  the  parcel — my  "  Sainte-Ursule  "  a  parcel  ! — at  the  door  of 
the  convent  chapel.  I  am  then  commanded  to  start  in  a  very 
few  days  later,  so  as  to  reach  the  aforenamed  town  of  Arcis- 
sur-Aube  by  the  second  of  May  at  latest.  You  see,  these  are 
military  orders  ;  so  much  so  that  I  half  thought  of  taking  out  a 
soldier's  pass  instead  of  an  ordinary  permit  to  travel,  and 
of  taking  my  journey  at  the  regulation  fare  of  three  sous  per 
league. 

The  hotel  I  am  to  put  up  at  is  expressly  mentioned :  I  am 
to  stay  at  the  Hotel  de  la  Poste  ;  hence,  if  I  should  happen  to 
prefer  the  Three  Blackamoors  or  the  Silver  Lion,  which  are 
to  be  found  there,  no  doubt,  as  in  every  country  town,  I  must 
not  indulge  the  fancy.  Finally,  on  the  day  before  I  start,  I 
am  to  announce,  in  any  newspapers  I  can  work  upon,  the  fact 
of  my  intending  to  stand  as  a  candidate  for  election  in  the 
electoral  district  of  Arcis-sur-Aube  (Aube),  but  not  to  put 
forward  any  declaration  of  my  political  creed,  which  would 


196  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

be  useless  and  premature.  And  the  whole  concludes  with 
instructions — a  little  humiliating  perhaps,  but  giving  me  some 
faith  in  the  progress  of  affairs — to  call  on  the  morning  of  the 
day  when  I  set  out  on  Mongenod  Brothers,  where  I  can  again 
draw  a  sum  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs,  which 
ought  to  be  lying  there  in  my  name.  "I  am  to  take  the 
greatest  care,"  the  document  goes  on,  "that  in  conveying 
this  sum  from  Paris  to  Arcis-sur-Aube  it  is  neither  lost  nor 
stolen." 

What,  ray  good  sir,  do  you  make  of  this  last  clause  ?  The 
money  ^^ ought  to  be  lying  there  " — then  it  may  not  be;  and 
if  not,  what  then  ?  What  am  I  to  do  with  it  at  Arcis  ?  Am 
I  to  work  my  election  in  the  English  fashion  ? — that,  no  doubt, 
is  why  a  profession  of  faith  would  be  **  useless  and  premature." 
As  to  the  advice  not  to  lose  the  money  or  allow  myself  to  be 
robbed — don't  you  think  it  makes  me  wonderfully  young 
again  ?  Since  reading  it  I  have  quite  longed  to  suck  my 
thumb  and  get  a  padded  cap. 

However,  as  to  my  lord  and  father,  though  he  puts  my 
mind  on  the  rack  by  all  these  queer  ways  of  his,  I  could  ex- 
claim— but  for  the  respect  I  owe  him — like  Don  Basilic  in 
speaking  of  Almaviva :  "That  devil  of  a  man  has  his  pockets 
full  of  irresistible  arguments  !  " 

So  I  shut  my  eyes  and  give  myself  up  to  the  stream  that  is 
carrying  me  on  ;  and  in  spite  of  the  news  of  your  early  advent, 
I  must  call  to-morrow  morning  on  Mongenod  Brothers,  and 
set  forth  with  a  brave  heart,  picturing  to  myself  the  amaze- 
ment of  the  good  people  of  Arcis  when  they  see  me  drop  into 
their  midst,  as  sudden  and  as  startling  an  apparition  as  a  Jack- 
in-the-box. 

I  have  already  made  my  mark  in  Paris.  The  '*  National  " 
announced  me  as  a  candidate  yesterday  morning  in  the  most 
flaming  terms ;  and  this  evening  it  would  seem  that  I  was  the 
subject  of  much  discussion  at  the  house  of  the  minister  of  the 
Interior,  where  M.  de  TEstorade  was  dining.      I  must   in 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  197 

honesty  add  that,  according  to  M.  de  I'Estorade,  the  general 
impression  was  that  I  must  inevitably  fail.  In  the  district  of 
Arcis,  it  would  seem,  the  worst  the  Government  had  to  fear 
was  a  Left-Centre^ candidate;  the  democratic  party,  which  I 
am  by  way  of  representing,  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  any 
existence  there.  The  Left-Centre  candidate  has  already  been 
brought  to  his  senses  by  the  dispatch  of  a  particularly  alert 
and  skillful  canvasser;  and  at  this  moment,  when  I  am  flinging 
my  name  to  the  winds,  the  election  of  the  Conservative  is 
already  a  certainty. 

Added  to  these  elements  of  inevitable  failure,  M.  de  I'Esto- 
rade was  good  enough  to  speak  of  a  circumstance  as  to  which, 
my  dear  fellow,  I  am  surprised  that  you  should  never  have 
given  me  a  sermon,  for  it  is  one  of  the  most  pleasing  of  the 
calumnies  set  rolling  in  the  Montcornet  drawing-room  by  the 
honorable  and  highly  honored  Monsieur  Bixiou.  It  has  to 
do  with  a  very  handsome  Italian  woman  whom  I  am  supposed 
to  have  brought  with  me  from  Rome,  and  to  be  living  with  in 
most  uncanonical  relationship. 

Pray  tell  me  what  has  kept  you  from  asking  for  explanations 
of  the  matter?  Did  you  think  the  case  so  atrocious  that  you 
were  shy  of  offending  my  sense  of  decency  by  alluding  to  it  in 
any  way  ?  Or  is  it  that  you  have  such  confidence  in  my  high 
moral  sense  that  you  need  no  certificate  on  that  point  ?  I  had 
not  time  to  go  into  the  necessary  explanations  with  M.  de 
I'Estorade,  nor  have  I  time  now,  nor  inclination,  to  volun- 
teer them  to  you. 

I  have  a  strong  notion  that  M.  de  I'Estorade  would  not  be 
best  pleased  at  my  succeeding  in  this  electoral  campaign.  He 
has  never  expressed  much  approbation  of  my  plans,  and  has 
constantly  done  his  utmost  to  divert  me  from  them — always 
indeed  by  urging  considerations  in  my  own  interest.  But 
now  that  the  idea  has  taken  shape,  and  is  even  discussed  in 
Ministerial  circles,  my  gentleman  has  turned  sour ;  and  while 
finding  malicious  pleasure  in  promising  me  defeat,  he  brings 


198  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

up  the  pretty  little  activity  under  which  he  hopes  to  smother 
and  bury  me — as  a  friendly  act.     Now,  why  ? 

I  will  tell  you.  The  fact  is,  that  though  he  is  under  an 
obligation  to  me,  the  good  man  by  his  high  social  position 
feels  himself  my  superior  in  a  way  which  my  election  to  the 
Chamber  would  nullify,  and  he  does  not  like  the  notion  of 
renouncing  it.  For,  after  all,  what  is  an  artist— even  if  he  be 
a  genius— in  comparison  with  a  peer  of  France,  a  bigwig  who 
has  a  finger  in  the  supreme  direction  of  great  political  and 
social  questions — a  man  who  can  button-hole  the  ministers  and 
the  King,  who,  if  he  were  capable  of  such  an  audacious  flight, 
has  a  right  to  blackball  the  Appropriations  ?  And  is  it  con- 
ceivable that  I,  in  my  turn,  should  want  to  be  such  a  privi- 
leged person,  with  even  greater  importance  and  authority  as 
being  a  member  of  the  elective  body  ?  Is  it  not  a  trying  piece 
of  insolence  and  conceit.     Hence  is  M.  le  Comte  furious  ! 

Nor  is  this  all.  These  politicians  by  right  divine  have  a 
fixed  idea :  they  believe  themselves  to  have  been  initiated  by 
long  study  into  a  science  supposed  to  be  very  abstruse,  which 
they  call  Statecraft,  and  which  they  alone  have  a  right  to 
know  and  practice,  as  none  but  physicians  may  practice  medi- 
cine. So  they  cannot  endure  that  without  having  taken  out 
a  license,  any  low  fellow — such  as  a  journalist,  for  instance, 
or,  lower  still,  an  artist,  an  image-maker — should  dare  to 
poach  on  their  domain  and  speak  as  they  do.  A  poet,  an 
artist,  a  writer  may  have  great  gifts — that  they  are  ready  to 
grant ;  in  fact,  their  business  requires  it ;  but  they  cannot 
be  statesmen.  Chateaubriand  himself,  though  naturally  in  a 
position  which  justified  him  in  making  a  place  for  himself  in 
the  Olympus  of  Government,  was  nevertheless  shown  the  door, 
and  one  morning  a  very  brief  note,  signed  "Joseph  Villele," 
sent  him  packing — as  was  but  proper  ! — back  to  "  Rene," 
"  Atala,"  and  other  literary  trivialities. 

I  know  that  time,  and  that  stalwart  posthumous  daughter 
of  us  all  whom  we  call  Posterity,  will  in  the  long  run  do  us 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  169 

all  full  justice  and  put  every  man  in  his  right  place.  In  2039, 
if  the  world  holds  out  so  long,  most  men  will  still  know  who, 
in  1839,  were  Canalis,  Joseph  Bridau,  Daniel  d'Arthez,  Stid- 
mann,  and  Leon  de  Lora;  while  only  an  infinitely  small 
number  will  be  av^a^e  that  at  the  same  time  M.  le  Comte  de 
I'Estorade  was  a  peer  of  France  and  president  of  the  Court  of 
Exchequer ;  that  M.  le  Comte  de  Rastignac  was  minister  of 
Public  Works,  and  M.  le  Baron  Martial  de  la  Roche-Hugon, 
his  brother-in-law,  a  diplomatist  and  privy  councilor  on  special 
service  more  or  less  extraordinary.  Still,  pending  this  post- 
poned resifting  and  far-off  justice,  I  do  not  think  it  a  bad 
thing  that  these  great  men  in  oflSce  should  have  a  reminder  to 
the  effect  that,  short  of  being  a  Richelieu  or  a  Colbert,  they 
are  subject  to  competition,  and  must  take  the  consequences. 

Well,  I  might  say  of  your  great  griefs  what  I  said  just  now 
of  the  great  men  in  office :  they  must  be  regarded  in  their, 
place  in  time  and  space,  and  then  they  are  intangible,  imper- 
ceptible, they  are  held  of  no  more  account  in  a  man's  life 
when  his  biography  is  written  than  the  hairs  he  combs  out  of 
his  head  every  morning.  That  charming  lunatic  with  whom 
you  spent  three  years  of  matrimonial  ecstasy  put  out  a  hand, 
as  she  thought,  where  Death  was — and  Death,  mocking  at  her 
schemes,  her  plans,  at  the  refinement  and  graces  she  added  to 
life,  snatched  at  her  suddenly  and  brutally.  You  remain  : 
You,  with  youth  on  your  side  and  the  gifts  of  intellect,  and 
with  what  is,  believe  me.  an  element  of  power — deep  and 
premature  disgust  ot  things.  Now,  why  not  do  as  I  am  doing  ? 
Why  not  join  me  in  the  political  arena  ?  Then  there  would 
be  two  of  us  to  carry  out  my  plans,  and  the  world  would  see 
what  can  be  done  by  two  determined  and  energetic  men, 
yoked  together,  as  it  were,  and  both  pulling  at  the  heavy 
collar  of  justice  and  truth. 

But  if  you  think  that  I  am  too  much  bent  on  becoming 
infectious,  or  inoculating  all  and  sundry  with  my  parliamen- 
tary yellow-fever,  return  at  least  to  the  world  of  letters  where 


200  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARC  IS. 

you  have  already  made  your  mark,  and  exert  your  imagination 
to  enable  you  to  ignore  your  heart,  which  speaks  too  con- 
stantly of  the  past.  I,  for  ray  part,  will  make  as  much  stir  for 
you  as  I  can  ;  and  even  if  it  should  cost  me  part  of  my  sleep 
to  keep  up  our  correspondence  to  divert  your  mind  whether 
you  will  or  not,  I  shall  take  care  to  keep  you  informed  of  all 
the  vicissitudes  of  the  drama  I  am  about  to  play  a  part  in. 

P.  S. — You  have  not  arrived,  my  dear  friend,  and  I  must 
close  ray  letter,  which  will  be  handed  to  you  by  my  house- 
keeper when  you  call — for,  of  course,  your  first  visit  will  be 
to  me.     Till  then  you  cannot  know  that  I  am  gone. 

I  went  this  morning  to  the  bankers  Mongenod :  the  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs  were  ready,  but  with  the 
most  extraordinary  directions — in  the  name  of  M.  le  Comte 
de  Sallenauve,  known  as  M.  Dorlange,  sculptor.  Rue  de  t  Quest, 
No.  42.  And  in  spite  of  this  designation,  which  has  never  been 
mine,  the  money  was  handed  over  to  me  without  demur. 
Under  the  eyes  of  the  cashier  I  had  presence  of  mind  enough 
not  to  seem  utterly  amazed  by  my  new  name  and  title ;  but  I 
had  a  private  interview  with  M.  Mongenod,  senior,  a  man  of 
the  highest  character  in  the  banking  world,  and  to  him  I  con- 
fessed my  surprise,  begging  for  any  explanation  he  might  be 
able  to  afford  me.  He  could  give  me  none :  the  money  was 
forwarded  to  him  through  a  Dutch  bank,  his  correspondent  at 
Lotts;^rdjff^  .^d  that  is  all  he  knows. 

Bless  me  !  whaTiie^rrl-BlSa^er  ?_  Am  I  now  to  be  a  noble- 
man? Has  the  moment  arrived  when  rhj^  fill\«:i  "wVA  Teveal 
himself? 

DORLANGE   TO   MARIE-GASTON. 

Arcis-sur-Aube,  May  3,  1839. 
My  dear  old  Friend  : — Last  evening,  at  seven  o'clock, 
in  the  presence  of  Maltre  Achille  Pigoult,  notary  to  the  King 
in  the  town  of  Arcis-sur-Aube,  the  obsequies  were  solemnized 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  201 

of  Charles  Dorlange,  who,  presently,  like  a  butterfly  emerging 
from  the  larva,  fluttered  out  on  the  world  under  the  name  and 
I)erson  of  Charles  de  Sallenauve,  son  of  Frangois-Henri-Panta- 
leon  Dumirail,  Marquis  de  Sallenauve.  Hereinafter  are  set 
forth  the  recorded  faC^j  which  preceded  this  great  and  glorious 
metempsychosis. 

On  the  evening  of  May  ist  I  left  Paris  in  all  the  official 
revelry  of  St.  Philip's  Day ;  and  on  the  following  afternoon, 
in  obedience  to  paternal  instructions,  I  made  my  entry  into 
the  good  town  of  Arcis-sur-Aube.  On  getting  out  of  the 
chaise  my  amazement  was  considerable,  as  you  may  imagine, 
on  discerning,  in  the  street  where  the  diligence  had  just 
arrived,  that  evasive  Jacques  Bricheteau  whom  I  had  never 
seen  since  our  strange  meeting  in  the  He  Saint-Louis.  But 
this  time,  instead  of  behaving  like  Jean  de  Nivelle,  behold 
him  coming  toward  me  with  a  smile  on  his  face ;  and,  holding 
out  his  hand,  he  said : 

"At  last,  my  dear  sir,  we  are  almost  at  an  end  of  these 
mysteries,  and  you  will  soon,  I  hope,  find  no  further  reason 
to  complain  of  me." 

At  the  same  time,  with  an  air  of  anxious  solicitude  that  was 
too  much  for  him,  he  added : 

"  You  have  brought  the  money  ?  " 

"Yes,"  I  replied.  "  Neither  lost  nor  stolen,"  and  I  tooK 
out  the  pocket-book  that  contained  the  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  francs  in  bank-notes. 

"That  is  well,"  said  Jacques  Bricheteau.  "  Now  we  will 
go  to  the  Hotel  de  la  Poste.  You  doubtless  know  who  is 
waiting  for  you  ?  ' ' 

"No,  indeed,"  said  I. 

"Then  you  did  not  observe  the  name  under  which  the 
money  was  made  payable  ?  " 

"  On  the  contrary — and  anything  so  strange  could  not  fail 
to  strike  me  and  set  my  imagination  working." 

**  Well,  presently  the  veil  will  be  removed  of  which,  so  far. 


202  THE  DEPt/TY  EOR  ARCIS. 

a  corner  has  just  been  lifted  that  you  might  not  be  too  sud- 
denly startled  by  the  great  and  happy  event  that  is  about  to 
take  place  in  your  life." 

"  Is  my  father  here  ?  " 

I  asked  the  question  eagerly,  and  yet  without  the  deep 
emotion  I  should  probably  have  felt  at  the  thought  of  em- 
bracing my  mother. 

"Yes,"  replied  Jacques  Bricheteau.  ''But  I  think  it  well 
to  warn  you  of  a  possible  chill  on  your  meeting.  The 
marquis  has  gone  through  much  suffering.  The  Court  life  to 
which  he  has  since  been  accustomed  has  made  him  unready  to 
display  any  expression  of  feeling  ;  beside,  he  has  a  perfect 
horror  of  anything  suggesting  bourgeois  manners  ;  so  you 
must  not  be  surprised  at  the  aristocratically  cold  and  dignified 
reception  you  may  meet  with.  He  is  kind  at  heart,  and  you 
will  appreciate  him  more  as  you  know  him  better." 

"These  preliminaries  are  highly  encouraging,"  thought  I. 
And  as  I  myself  did  not  feel  any  very  ardent  predispositions, 
I  augured  that  this  first  interview  would  be  at  a  temperature 
of  some  degrees  below  zero. 

On  going  into  the  room  where  the  marquis  awaited  me,  I 
saw  a  very  tall,  very  thin,  very  bald  man,  seated  at  a  table  on 
which  he  was  arranging  papers.  On  hearing  the  door  open, 
he  pushed  his  spectacles  up  on  his  forehead,  rested  his  hands 
on  the  arms  of  his  chair,  and  looking  round  at  us  he  waited. 

'*  Monsieur  le  Comte  de  Sallenauve,"  said  Jacques  Briche- 
teau, announcing  me  with  the  solemnity  of  an  usher  of  am- 
bassadors or  a  groom  of  the  Chambers. 

But  in  the  presence  of  the  man  to  whom  I  owed  my  life  the 
ice  in  me  was  instantly  melted ;  I  stepped  forward  with  an 
eager  impulse,  feeling  the  tears  rise  to  my  eyes.  He  did  not 
move.  There  was  not  the  faintest  trace  of  agitation  in  his 
face,  which  had  that  peculiar  look  of  high  dignity  that  used 
to  be  called  "  the  grand  air  ;  "  he  merely  held  out  his  hand, 
limply  grasped  mine,  and  then  said — 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  203 

"  Be  seated,  monsieur — for  I  have  not  yet  the  right  to  call 
you  my  son." 

When  Jacques  Bricheteau  and  I  had  taken  chairs — 

"  Then  you  have^no  objection,"  said  this  strange  kind  of 
father,  "to  assuming  the  political  position  we  are  trying  to 
secure  for  you  ?  ' ' 

"None  at  all,"  said  I.  "The  notion  startled  me  at  first, 
but  I  soon  grew  accustomed  to  it ;  and,  to  insure  success,  I 
have  punctually  carried  out  all  the  instructions  that  were  con- 
veyed to  me." 

"  Excellent,"  said  the  marquis,  taking  up  from  the  table  a 
gold  snuff-box  which  he  twirled  in  his  fingers. 

Then,  after  a  short  silence,  he  added — 

"  Now  I  owe  you  certain  explanations.  Our  good  friend 
Jacques  Bricheteau,  if  he  will  have  the  kindness,  will  lay 
them  before  you."  A  sort  of  echo  of  the  royal  formula, 
"  My  chancellor  will  tell  you  the  rest^ 

"To  begin  at  the  beginning,"  said  Jacques  Bricheteau, 
accepting  the  task  thus  thrust  upon  him,  "  I  ought  to  tell  you, 
monsieur,  that  you  are  not  a  Sallenauve  in  the  direct  line. 
On  his  return  from  the  emigration,  about  the  year  1808, 
M.  le  Marquis  here  present  made  the  acquaintance  of  your 
mother,  and  you  are  the  issue  of  that  connection.  Your 
mother,  as  you  already  know,  died  at  your  birth  ;  and  as  mis- 
fortunes never  come  singly,  shortly  after  this  terrible  sorrow 
M.  de  Sallenauve,  being  implicated  in  a  plot  against  the  Im- 
perial throne,  was  obliged  to  fly  the  country.  M.  le  Marquis, 
like  myself,  a  native  of  Arcis,  honored  me  with  his  confidence, 
and  on  the  eve  of  this  second  exile  he  placed  your  young  life 
in  my  charge.  I  accepted  the  responsibility,  I  will  not  say 
gladly,  but  with  sincere  gratitude." 

At  these  words  the  marquis  held  out  his  hand  to  Jacques 
Bricheteau,  who  was  sitting  near  him,  and  after  a  silent  pres- 
sure— which,  I  may  say,  did  not  seem  to  agitate  them  deeply 
— Jacques  Bricheteau  went  on — 


204  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

♦*  The  elaborate  and  mysterious  precautions  I  so  carefully 
contrived,  in  order  to  conceal  the  functions  I  had  accepted, 
may  be  accounted  for  by  many  reasons.  I  might  say  that 
every  change  of  government  that  we  have  lived  under  since 
your  birth  has  indirectly  reacted  on  you.  While  the  Empire 
lasted,  I  feared  lest  a  power  which  was  not  reputed  indulgent 
to  those  who  attacked  it  might  not  include  you  in  your 
father's  banishment,  and  that  first  suggested  the  idea  of  giving 
you  a  sort  of  anonymous  identity.  Under  the  Restoration,  I 
had  reason  to  fear  another  form  of  hostility.  The  Sallenauve 
family,  of  which  M.  le  Marquis  here  present  is  the  sole  sur- 
viving representative,  was  then  all-powerful.  The  circum- 
stances of  your  birth  had  got  wind,  and  it  had  not  escaped 
their  perspicacity  that  monsieur  your  father  had  taken  care 
not  to  admit  his  paternity,  so  as  to  be  able  to  leave  you  his 
whole  fortune,  of  which,  as  a  recognized  natural  child,  the 
law  would  only  have  allowed  a  fixed  portion, 

"The  obscurity  that  surrounded  you  seemed  to  me  the  best 
protection  against  the  investigations  of  your  money-seeking 
relations ;  and  certain  suspicious  proceedings  on  their  part  to 
spy  on  me  at  different  times  showed  that  my  anticipations 
were  justified.  Finally,  after  the  Revolution  of  July,  I  was 
afraid  for  you  of  your  connection  with  me.  I  had  seen  the 
change  of  dynasty  with  deep  regret ;  and  having  allowed 
myself  to  become  involved  in  some  overt  acts  of  rebellion, 
since  I  had  no  belief  in  its  stability — for  men  are  always 
ready  to  fight  a  government  that  is  forced  upon  them,  and  to 
which  they  are  averse — I  found  myself  on  the  black-list  of  the 
police " 

On  this,  remembering  that  at  the  Cafe  des  Arts  Jacques 
Bricheteau  had  been  the  object  of  very  different  suspicions, 
I  could  not  help  smiling,  and  the  chancellor,  pausing,  said 
with  extreme  solemnity — 

"  Do  these  details  that  I  have  the  honor  of  giving  you  by 
any  misfortune  appear  to  you  doubtful  ?  " 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  205 

When  I  had  accounted  for  the  expression  of  my  face — 

"The  waiter,"  said  Jacques  Bricheteau,  "was  not  alto- 
gether in  the  wrong.  I  have  for  many  years  been  employed 
by  the  police  in  the  public  health  department ;  but  I  am  not 
a  spy — on  the  contrjtry,  I  have  more  than  once  very  nearly 
been  a  victim.  Now,  to  return  to  the  secrecy  I  still  preserved 
as  to  our  connection,  though  I  did  not  apprehend  positive 
persecution  as  resulting  to  you  from  knowing  me,  it  seemed  to 
me  that  such  an  acquaintance  might  be  detrimental  to  your 
career.  *  Sculptors,'  I  reflected,  '  cannot  get  on  without 
the  support  of  Government.  I  might  possibly  prevent  his 
getting  commissions.'  I  ought  also  to  say  that  at  the  time 
when  I  gave  you  notice  that  your  allowance  was  to  cease,  I 
had  for  some  years  lost  track  of  Monsieur  le  Marquis.  Of 
what  use  was  it,  then,  to  tell  you  the  history  of  the  past, 
since  it  apparently  could  have  no  effect  on  your  future  pros- 
pects? 

"  I  decided  that  it  was  best  to  leave  you  in  complete  igno- 
rance, and  busied  myself  in  inventing  some  fiction  which 
might  mislead  your  curiosity,  and  at  the  same  time  relieve  me 
from  the  long  privation  I  endured  by  avoiding  any  direct 
intercourse  with  you " 

"The  man  you  employed  as  your  representative,"  said  I, 
interrupting  him,  "  was  well  chosen,  no  doubt,  from  the 
point  of  view  of  secrecy,  but  you  must  admit  that  he  is  not 
attractive." 

"  Poor  Gorenflot !  "  said  the  organist,  laughing.  "  He  is 
simply  one  of  the  parish  bell-ringers,  and  I  employ  him  to 
blow  the  organ.  I  do  not  know  whether  the  author  of 
*  Notre-Dame  de  Paris  '  had  ever  seen  him  when  he  invented 
Quasimodo." 

During  this  parenthesis  an  absurd  sound  fell  on  our  ear ;  a 
distinct  snore  from  my  father  gave  us  to  understand  that 
either  he  took  very  little  interest  in  all  these  explanations 
given    in  his  name,   or  that  he  thought   them   too    prolix. 


206  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

Whether  it  was  his  conceit  as  an  orator  that  was  nettled,  or 
what  else  it  was  that  roused  Jacques  Bricheteau's  temper,  I 
know  not,  but  he  started  to  his  feet  with  annoyance,  and 
violently  shook  the  sleeper's  arm,  exclaiming — 

"  What,  marquis  ! — if  you  sleep  like  this  when  sitting  in 
Council,  my  word  !  the  country  must  be  well  governed  !  " 

M.  de  Sallenauve  opened  his  eyes,  shook  himself,  and,  speak- 
ing to  me,  he  said — 

"  Excuse  me,  M.  le  Comte,  but  I  have  traveled  post  for 
ten  days  and  nights  without  stopping,  in  order  to  be  in  time 
to  meet  you  here ;  and  though  I  spent  last  night  in  a  bed,  I 
am  still  rather  tired." 

He  then  rose,  took  a  large  pinch  of  snuff,  and  paced  the 
room,  while  Jacques  Bricheteau  went  on — 

"It  is  rather  more  than  a  year  since  I  first  heard  again 
from  your  father.  He  explained  his  long  silence  and  his  pur- 
poses for  you,  saying  that,  perhaps  for  some  years  to  come,  it 
was  absolutely  necessary  that  he  should  still  maintain  the 
strictest  incognito.  It  was  just  then  that  chance  threw  you 
in  my  way.  I  found  you  prepared  to  rush  into  any  folly  to 
get  to  the  bottom  of  the  secret  of  which  you  could  no  longer 
doubt  the  existence " 

"You  are  good  at  a  quick  removal  !  "  said  I,  with  a  laugh 
to  the  erewhile  lodger  of  the  Quai  de  Bethune. 

"  I  did  better  than  that.  Tormented  by  the  idea  that,  in 
spite  of  my  efforts,  you  would  succeed  in  piercing  the  darkness 
I  had  so  elaborately  left  you  in,  and  at  the  very  moment  when 
M.  le  Marquis  might  think  it  most  indispensable " 

"  You  set  out  for  Stockholm  ?  " 

'*'  No,  for  your  father's  residence;  but  I  posted  at  Stockholm 
the  letter  he  gave  me  for  you." 

"But  I  do  not  quite  understand " 

"Nothing  can  be  simpler,"  said  the  marquis  decisively. 
"  I  do  not  live  in  Sweden,  and  we  wished  to  put  you  off  the 
^cent." 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  TffI 

"Would  you  wish  to  tell  the  rest  of  the  story  yourself?" 
said  Jacques  Bricheteau,  though  not  seeming  anxious  to  be 
superseded  in  his  narrative  ;  for,  as  you  see,  he  has  an  easy 
and  elegant  flow  of^language. 

"Not  at  all,  not  at  all — go  on,"  said  the  marquis;  "you 
are  doing  it  admirably." 

"The  presence  here  of  M.  le  Marquis,"  Jacques  Bricheteau 
went  on,  "  will  not,  as  I  must  warn  you,  immediately  clear  iip 
all  the  mysteries  which  have  hitherto  complicated  your  rela- 
tions. For  the  furtherance  of  your  future  prospects,  and  of 
his  own,  he  reserves  the  right  of  leaving  you  in  ignorance  for 
some  time  yet  of  the  name  of  the  country  where  he  hopes  to 
see  you  invited  to  succeed  him,  and  of  certain  other  details  of 
his  biography.  In  fact,  he  is  here  this  day  chiefly  with  a  view 
to  avoiding  further  explanations,  and  to  renew  the  lease,  so  to 
speak,  of  your  patient  curiosity. 

"  The  recognition  and  legitimization  of  a  natural  son  is  a 
serious  matter,  surrounded  by  legal  complications.  An  au- 
thenticated affidavit  must  be  taken  in  the  presence  of  a  notary ; 
and  even  though  the  father's  personal  deposition  can  be 
represented  by  a  specially  prepared  document,  M.  le  Mar- 
quis thought  that  the  formalities  indispensable  to  make  this 
power  of  attorney  effective  might  divulge  the  secret  of  his 
identity,  not  only  to  your  disadvantage,  but  in  the  foreign 
land  where  he  is  married,  and  to  some  extent  naturalized ; 
and  that  secret  it  is  still  incumbent  on  him  to  keep  for  a  time. 
This  decided  him.  He  made  an  excuse  to  take  a  few  weeks' 
absence,  arrived,  posting  all  the  way,  and,  taking  me  by  sur- 
prise, arranged  for  our  meeting  here. 

"  In  the  course  of  such  a  long  and  hurried  journey  he  feared 
that  the  considerable  sum  of  money  he  is  devoting  to  secure 
your  election  might  not  be  quite  safe  in  his  keeping,  and  he 
therefore  transmitted  it  through  his  bankers,  to  be  drawn  on  a 
certain  day.  That  is  why,  on  your  arrival,  I  asked  you  the 
question  which  raajr  have  surprised  you,     Now  I  h?ive  ^o  ask 


208  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

you  another  of  far  greater  importance :  Do  you  consent  to  take 
M.  de  Sallenauve's  name  and  be  acknowledged  by  him  as  his 
son?" 

"  I  am  no  lawyer,"  said  I ;  "  but  it  seems  to  me  that,  even 
if  I  did  not  feel  highly  honored  by  it,  it  does  not  lie  in  my 
hands  to  decline  such  a  recognition." 

"I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  Jacques  Bricheteau;  "you 
might  be  the  son  of  a  very  undesirable  father,  and  find  it  to 
your  interest  to  dispute  the  relationship ;  in  the  case  as  it 
stands  you  could  plead,  probably  with  success,  to  decline  the 
favor  proposed.  I  ought  also  to  tell  you — and  I  know  that  I 
am  expressing  the  intentions  of  M.  le  Marquis — that  if  you  do 
not  think  a  man  who  has  already  spent  half  a  million  of  francs 
out  of  pocket  with  a  view  to  your  election  a  father  altogether 
to  your  mind,  we  leave  you  perfectly  free,  and  have  no  wish 
to  coerce  you." 

"Quite  so,  quite  so,"  said  M.  de  Sallenauve,  in  a  short, 
sharp  tone  and  the  thin  high  pipe  which  is  peculiar  to  these 
relics  of  the  old  aristocracy. 

Mere  politeness  required  me  to  say  that  I  was  only  too 
happy  to  accept  the  parentage  thus  pressed  on  me ;  and  in 
reply  to  the  few  words  I  spoke  to  that  effect,  Jacques  Briche- 
teau went  on — 

"And  we  do  not  ask  you  to  'buy  di father  in  a  poke.'  Not 
so  much  with  a  view  to  command  your  confidence,  which  he 
believes  he  has  won,  as  to  enable  you  to  judge  of  the  family 
whose  name  you  will  bear,  M.  le  Marquis  will  place  before 
you  all  the  title-deeds  and  parchments  that  are  in  his  posses- 
sion ;  and  beside  this,  though  it  is  a  long  time  since  he  left 
France,  he  can  prove  his  identity  by  the  evidence  of  his  still 
living  contemporaries,  which  will  serve  to  corroborate  the 
validity  of  the  act  he  will  put  his  name  to.  For  instance, 
among  the  persons  of  unimpeachable  honor  who  have  already 
recognized  him,  I  may  mention  the  venerable  mother  superior 
of  the  Ursuline  Sisters  here,  Mother  Marie  des  Anges — for 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  209 

whom,  I  may  add,  you  have  executed  a  most  glorious  master- 
piece." 

"Yes,  on  my  honor,  a  very  pretty  thing,"  said  the  mar- 
quis.    **If  you  arenas  strong  in  politics " 

"Well,  then,  marquis,"  said  Jacques  Bricheteau,  who 
seemed  to  me  a  little  overbearing,  "will  you  and  our  young 
friend  proceed  to  verify  those  family  papers  ?  " 

"It  is  quite  unnecessary,"  said  I. 

But  my  father  would  not  let  me  off;  for  more  than  two 
hours  he  spread  before  me  deeds,  pedigrees,  settlements, 
letters-patent,  a  thousand  documents,  to  prove  that  the  Salle- 
nauves  are,  with  the  exception  of  the  Cinq  Cygnes,  one  of  the 
oldest  families  in  the  Province  of  Champagne  generally,  and 
of  the  department  of  the  Aube  in  particular.  I  may  add  that 
this  display  of  archives  had  a  running  accompaniment  of  end- 
less details  in  words,  which  certainly  gave  the  identity  of  the 
last  Marquis  de  Sallenauve  a  very  convincing  semblance  of 
genuineness. 

On  all  other  subjects  my  father  is  apt  to  be  laconic ;  his 
mind  is  not,  I  should  say,  remarkably  open,  and  he  is  always 
ready  to  leave  his  chancellor  to  speak  for  him.  But  on  the 
subject  of  his  family  papers  he  was  bewilderingly  full  of  anec- 
dotes, reminiscences,  and  heraldic  information  ;  in  short,  the 
complete  gentleman  of  an  older  time,  ignorant  or  superficial 
on  most  subjects,  but  a  Benedictine  for  erudition  on  everything 
connected  with  his  ancestors. 

We  dined,  not  at  the  table  cThdie,  but  in  a  private  room. 
There  was  nothing  remarkable  about  the  meal,  unless  it  were 
the  length  of  time  it  lasted  in  consequence  of  the  absorbed 
silence  and  slowness  of  the  marquis'  deglutition,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  loss  of  all  his  teeth. 

So  by  seven  o'clock  we  were  at  Maitre  Pigoult's 

But  it  is  near  on  two  in  the  morning,  and  I  am  dropping 
asleep;  so,  till  to-morrow — when,  if  I  have  time,  I  will  go  on  with 
this  letter  and  the  circumstantial  account  of  all  that  took  place 
14 


210  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

in  the  notary's  office.  However,  you  know  the  upshot  of  it 
all,  like  a  man  who  turns  to  the  page  of  a  novel  to  see  whether 
Evelina  marries  her  Arthur,  and  you  may  let  me  off  the  de- 
tails. As  I  step  into  bed  I  shall  say  to  myself:  Good-night, 
M.  de  Sallenauve. 

In  fact,  that  old  rascal  Bricheteau  was  clumsy  enough  in 
foisting  on  me  such  a  name  as  Dorlange ;  it  was  only  fit  for 
some  hero  of  romance  under  the  Empire,  or  one  of  the  pro- 
vincial tenors  on  the  lookout  for  an  engagement  under  the 
meagre  shade  of  the  Palais-Royal. 

May  4,  five  in  the  morning. 

Arrived  at  Maitre  Pigoult's  a  maidservant,  a  country  wench 
of  the  purest  breed,  led  us  through  an  office  of  the  most  ven- 
erably antique  type — where,  however,  no  clerks  were  to  be 
seen  working  in  the  evening,  as  in  Paris — she  showed  us  into 
her  master's  private  room,  a  large  room,  cold  and  damp,  and 
barely  lighted  by  two  composition  candles  on  the  desk. 

Maitre  Achille  Pigoult,  a  feeble  little  man,  much  marked 
with  smallpox,  and  afflicted  with  green  spectacles,  over  which, 
however,  he  can  flash  a  look  of  great  keenness  and  intelligence, 
asked  us  if  we  found  the  room  warm  enough.  On  our  reply- 
ing in  the  affirmative — which  he  must  have  seen  was  a  mere 
form  of  politeness — he  had  carried  his  incendiary  purpose  so 
far  as  to  strike  a  match,  when,  from  one  of  the  darkest  corners 
of  the  room,  a  broken  and  quavering  voice,  whose  owner  we 
had  not  yet  discerned,  opposed  this  lavish  extravagance. 

"No,  no,  Achille,  do  not  light  the  fire,"  cried  the  old 
man.  "  There  are  five  of  us  in  the  room ;  the  candles 
give  a  good  deal  of  heat,  and  we  shall  be  suffocated  before 
long." 

To  these  words  of  this  hot-blooded  Nestor,  the  marquis  ex- 
claimed : 

"Why,  it  is  worthy  M.  Pigoult,  the  old  justice  of  the 
peace ! " 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  211 

The  old  man,  thus  recognized,  rose  and  came  up  to  my 
father,  whom  he  examined  narrowly. 

"  To  be  sure  !  "  said  he.  "  And  I  know  you  for  a  native 
of  the  province,  of  the  old  block ;  Achille  told  me  the  truth 
when  he  promised  me  that  I  should  meet  two  old  acquaint- 
ances. You,"  said  he  to  the  organist,  *'are  little  Bricheteau, 
nephew  to  the  good  Mother-superior  Marie  des  Anges.  But 
that  tall  fellow,  with  his  face  like  a  duke — I  cannot  put  a 
name  to  him — and  you  must  not  be  too  hard  on  my  memory, 
for  after  eighty-six  years  of  hard  service — it  has  a  right  to  be 
a  little  stiff  in  the  joints." 

"Now,  then,  grandfather,"  said  Achille  Pigoult,  "try  to 
furbish  up  your  recollections — and  you,  gentlemen,  not  a 
word,  not  a  hint.  I  want  to  enlighten  my  faith.  I  have  not 
the  honor  of  knowing  the  client  on  whose  behalf  I  am  about 
to  act,  and,  to  be  strictly  regular,  proof  of  his  identity  is  re- 
quired. The  act  of  Louis  XII.,  passed  in  1498,  and  Francois 
I.  confirming  it,  in  1535,  make  this  imperative  on  notaries — 
gardes-notes  as  they  were  called — to  forefend  any  substitution 
of  parties  to  such  deeds.*  The  law  is  too  reasonable  to  have 
fallen  into  desuetude;  and,  for  my  part,  I  should  not  have 
the  smallest  respect  for  the  validity  of  an  act  if  it  could  be 
proved  that  such  identification  had  been  neglected." 

While  his  son  was  speaking,  old  Pigoult  had  been  racking 
his  memory.  My  father,  by  good  luck,  has  a  queer  nervous 
twitch  of  his  features,  which  was  naturally  aggravated  under 
the  steady  gaze  of  the  certifier.  On  seeing  this  muscular 
movement,  the  old  lawyer  at  last  spotted  his  man. 

"Ah,  I  have  it  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "Monsieur  is  the  Mar- 
quis de  Sallenauve — the  man  we  used  to  call  the  Grimacier — 
who  would,  at  this  day,  be  the  master  of  the  Chateau  d'Arcis 
if  he  had  but  married  his  pretty  cousin,  who  had  it  for  her 
marriage-portion,  instead  of  going  off  with  the  rest  of  the 
madmen  as  an  emtgri." 

*  Notaries  public  must  do  the  same  in  this  country. 


212  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"  Still  a  bit  of  a  sans-culotte,  it  would  seem,"  said  the  mar- 
quis, laughing. 

♦'Gentlemen,"  said  the  notary  impressively,  *'the  test  I 
had  planned  seems  to  me  to  be  decisive.  This  evidence,  and 
the  papers  which  M.  le  Marquis  has  been  good  enough  to  sub- 
mit to  me,  leaving  them  in  my  hands,  together  with  the  cer- 
tificate of  identity  forwarded  to  me  by  Mother  Marie  des 
Anges,  who  is  prohibited  by  the  rules  of  her  house  from  com- 
ing to  my  office,  certainly  justify  us  in  completing  the  deeds 
which  I  have  already  prepared.  One  of  them  requires  the 
signature  of  two  witnesses.  For  one,  we  have  here  M.  Briche- 
teau ;  for  the  other,  my  father,  if  you  will  accept  him,  and 
the  honor,  it  seems  to  me,  is  his  by  right,  for  we  may  say  he 
has  won  it  at  the  point  of  his  memory." 

"Well,  then,  gentlemen,  let  us  take  our  seats  !  "  exclaimed 
Bricheteau  enthusiastically. 

The  notary  seated  himself  at  his  table ;  we  made  a  semi- 
circle, and  he  began  to  read  the  deeds.  The  object  in  view 
was  set  forth — to  authenticate  the  recognition  by  Fran^ois- 
Henri-Pantaleon  Dumirail,  Marquis  de  Sallenauve,  of  his  son, 
in  my  person ;  but  here  a  difficulty  arose.  Deeds  under  a 
notary's  certificate  must  mention  the  place  of  residence  of  the 
contracting  parties,  otherwise  they  are  void.  Now,  where 
did  my  father  reside  ?  A  blank  space  had  been  left  by  the 
notary,  who  wished  to  fill  it  up  before  proceeding  any  further. 

**  In  the  first  place,"  said  Pigoult,  "  it  would  seem  that  M. 
le  Marquis  has  no  place  of  residence  in  France,  since,  in  fact, 
he  does  not  reside  in  the  country,  and  has  for  many  years 
owned  no  land  in  it." 

"That  is  true,"  said  the  marquis,  in  a  graver  tone  than 
the  remark  seemed  to  call  for ;  "  i.i  France  I  am  but  a  vaga- 
bond." 

"Aha!"  said  Jacques  Bricheteau,  "but  vagabonds  like 
you,  who  can  hand  over  on  the  nail  such  gifts  to  a  son  as  the 
sum  needed  to  purchase  a  mansion,  are  not  beggars  we  need 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  213 

waste  our  pity  on.  At  the  same  time,  what  you  say  is  true — 
equally  true  in  France  or  elsewhere — for,  with  your  mania  for 
eternally  wandering,  it  seems  to  me  pretty  difficult  to  name 
your  place  of  residence." 

"Well,  well,"  %*id  Achille  Pigoult,  "we  will  not  be 
brought  to  a  standstill  by  such  a  trifle  as  that.  Monsieur," 
and  he  turned  to  me,  "  is  now  the  owner  of  the  Chateau 
d'Arcis,  for  an  agreement  to  sell  is  equivalent  to  a  sale  when 
the  parties  are  agreed  as  to  the  terms  and  price.  Then,  what 
can  be  more  natural  than  that  the  father's  domicile  should  be 
stated  as  at  one  of  his  son's  estates ;  especially  when  it  is 
family  property  recovered  to  the  original  owners  by  purchase 
for  that  son's  benefit,  though  paid  for  by  the  father ;  when, 
moreover,  that  father  was  born  in  the  place  where  the  said 
residence  or  domicile  is  situated,  and  is  known  and  recognized 
by  residents  of  standing  whenever,  at  long  intervals,  he 
chooses  to  visit  it?" 

"Quite  right,"  said  old  Pigoult,  yielding  without  hesita- 
tion to  the  argument  set  forth  by  his  son,  in  that  emphatic  tone 
peculiar  to  men  of  business  when  they  believe  they  have  laid 
their  finger  on  a  conclusive  opinion. 

"Certainly,"  said  Jacques  Bricheteau,  "if  you  think  the 
thing  can  be  worked  so " 

"You  see  that  my  father,  a  man  of  great  experience,  does 
not  hesitate  to  support  my  opinion.  So  we  will  say,"  added 
the  notary,  taking  up  his  pen  :  "  '  Frangois-Henri-Pantaleon 
Dumirail,  Marquis  de  Sallenauve,  residing  with  M.  Charles 
de  Sallenauve,  his  natural  son  legitimized  by  this  act,  in  the 
house  known  as  the  Chateau  d'Arcis  in  the  district  of  Arcis- 
sur-Aube,  department  of  the  Aube.'  "  And  the  rest  of  the 
deed  was  read  without  any  hitch. 

Then  followed  a  very  ridiculous  little  scene. 

All  having  signed,  while  we  were  still  standing  there,  Jacques 
Bricheteau  said — 

"Now,  M.  le  Comte,  embrace  your  father." 


214  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCJS. 

My  father  opened  his  arms  with  no  small  indifference,  and 
I  coldly  fell  into  them,  vexed  with  myself,  however,  for  not 
being  more  deeply  moved  or  feeling  in  my  heart  the  glow  of 
kindred  blood. 

The  importance  of  this  property  as  bearing  on  my  election, 
even  if  I  had  not  been  instinctively  aware  of  it,  would  have 
been  made  clear  to  me  by  a  few  words  that  passed  between 
the  notary  and  Jacques  Bricheteau.  After  the  manner  of  sellers, 
who  will  still  run  up  the  value  of  their  goods  even  after  they 
have  parted  with  them — 

"You  may  think  yourselves  lucky,"  said  Achille  Pigoult; 
"  you  have  got  that  estate  for  a  mere  song." 

"  Stuff  and  nonsense  !  "  retorted  Bricheteau.  "  How  long 
have  you  had  it  on  your  hands?  To  anybody  else  your 
client  would  have  sold  it  for  fifty  thousand  crowns,  but  as  a 
family  property  you  made  us  pay  for  the  chance  of  having  it. 
We  shall  have  to  spend  twenty  thousand  francs  in  making  it 
habitable  ;  the  ground  will  hardly  return  four  thousand  francs 
a  year ;  so  our  money,  including  expenses,  will  not  bring  in 
two  and  a  half  per  cent." 

"What  have  you  to  complain  of?"  replied  the  notary; 
"  you  will  have  to  employ  labor,  and  that  is  not  bad  luck  for 
a  candidate." 

"Ah,  that  election,"  said  Jacques  Bricheteau.  "We  will 
talk  that  over  to-morrow  when  we  come  to  pay  over  the 
money  for  the  house,  and  our  debt  to  you." 

I  will  now  give  my  ideas  some  little  order ;  I  begin  at  that 
half-million  of  francs  spent,  as  you  must  allow,  on  a  somewhat 
nebulous  dream — that  of  one  day  possibly  seeing  me  a  minis- 
ter to  some  imaginary  court  heaven  knows  where,  the  name 
being  carefully  concealed. 

Why  does  the  man  who  recognizes  me  as  his  son  conceal 
the  name  of  the  place  he  lives  in,  and  that  by  which  he  him- 
self is  known  in  the  unknown  northern  land  where  he  is  said 
to  hold  oflSce  ?    Why  so  little  confidence  and  so  many  sacri- 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  215 

fices  on  my  behalf?  And  does  it  seem  to  you  that,  in  spite 
of  his  lengthy  explanations,  Jacques  Bricheteau  has  satis- 
factorily accounted  for  the  mystery  in  which  he  has  wrapped 
my  life  ?  Why  his  dwarf?  Why  his  impudent  denial  of  his 
own  identity  the  lirst  time  I  addressed  him  ?  Why  that 
frantic  flitting? 

All  this,  my  dear  fellow,  whirling  in  my  brain  and  cul- 
minating in  the  five  hundred  thousand  francs  paid  over  to 
me  by  the  Brothers  Mongenod,  seems  to  lend  substance  to  a 
queer  notion,  at  which  you  will  laugh  perhaps,  but  which  is 
not  without  foundation  in  the  annals  of  crime.  As  I  said  at 
first,  I  was  invaded  by.  it,  and  its  suddenness  seems  to  give  it 
the  character  of  an  instinctive  apprehension.  One  thing  is  cer- 
tain :  If  I  had  had  the  most  distant  inkling  of  it  last  evening, 
I  would  have  had  my  hand  cut  off"  sooner  than  sign  that  deed, 
binding  up  my  life  and  fortunes  with  those  of  a  stranger  whose 
destiny  may  be  as  dark  as  a  canto  of  Dante's  "  Inferno,"  and 
who  may  drag  me  with  him  into  the  blackest  depths. 

As  you  may  suppose,  I  have  represented  to  myself  every 
argument  that  can  tell  against  this  gloomy  view  of  the  case; 
and  if  I  do  not  state  them  here,  it  is  because  I  wish  to  have 
them  from  you,  and  so  give  them  a  value  which  they  would 
cease  to  have  if  I  had  inspired  them.  Of  one  thing  I  am 
certain :  I  am  living  in  an  unwholesome  atmosphere,  thick 
and  heavy  ;  I  want  air — I  cannot  breathe. 

Still,  if  you  can,  reassure  me,  convince  me  ;  I  shall  be  only 
glad,  as  you  may  well  suppose,  to  find  it  all  a  bad  dream. 
But,  at  any  rate,  no  later  than  to-morrow  I  mean  to  have  an 
explanation  with  both  these  men,  and  get  a  little  more  light 
on  the  subject  than  has  as  yet  been  vouchsafed  me. 

Here  is  a  new  aspect  to  the  story :  While  I  was  writing  I 
heard  the  clatter  of  horses  in  the  street.  Having  grown  dis- 
trustful, and  inclined  to  take  a  serious  view  of  every  incident, 
I  opened  my  window,  and  by  the  pale  light  of  daybreak  I  saw 


216  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

at  the  inn  door  a  post-chaise — horses,  postillion,  and  all — 
ready  to  start,  and  Jacques  Bricheteau  talking  to  somebody 
inside,  whose  face  was  hidden  by  the  peak  of  his  traveling 
cap.  I  acted  at  once :  I  ran  downstairs ;  but  before  I  reached 
the  bottom,  I  heard  the  dull  clatter  of  wheels  and  the  ringing 
cracks  of  the  whip— a  sort  of  parting  song  with  all  postillions. 

At  the  foot  of  the  stairs  I  stood  face  to  face  with  Jacques 
Bricheteau. 

Not  in  the  least  embarrassed,  he  said,  with  perfect  simplicity: 
"  What !  up  already,  my  dear  boy  ?  " 

"  Of  course,"  said  I,  "  the  least  I  could  do  was  to  say  fare- 
well to  my  most  kind  father." 

"  He  did  not  wish  it,"  said  the  confounded  musician,  with 
a  cool  solemnity  that  made  me  long  to  thrash  him.  "  He 
was  afraid  of  the  agitation  of  a  parting." 

"He  is  in  a  devil  of  a  hurry,"  said  I,  "if  he  could  not 
spare  one  day  to  his  brand-new  paternity." 

"  What  can  I  say  ?  He  is  an  oddity.  He  has  done  what 
he  came  to  do,  and  he  saw  no  reason  to  remain  any  longer." 

"To  be  sure,  the  high  functions  he  fulfills  in  that  northern 
court " 

There  could  be  no  mistake  as  to  the  deeply  ironical  tone 
with  which  I  spoke. 

"Till  now,"  said  Bricheteau,  "you  have  put  more  trust 
in  us." 

"  Yes,  but  I  confess  that  my  confidence  is  beginning  to  be 
shaken  by  the  ponderous  mysteries  that  are  so  unmercifully 
and  incessantly  piled  upon  it." 

"I  should  really  be  most  distressed,"  said  Jacques  Briche- 
teau, "at  seeing  you  give  way,  at  this  critical  moment,  to 
these  doubts,  which  are  certainly  justified  by  the  way  you  have 
been  dealt  with  during  so  many  years,  if  I  had  none  but  per- 
sonal arguments  or  statements  to  countervail  them.  But  you 
may  remember  that  old  Pigoult,  last  evening,  spoke  of  an  aunt 
of  mine  in  these  parts,  and  you  will  see  before  long  that  she 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  217 

is  a  person  of  considerable  importance.  I  may  add  that  her 
sacred  dignity  gives  absolute  authority  to  her  word.  I  had 
arranged  that  we  should  see  her  in  any  case  to-day ;  but  give 
me  only  time  to  shave  myself,  and  in  spite  of  its  being  so 
early  we  will  go  A^-once  to  the  Ursuline  convent.  You  can 
then  question  Mother  Marie  des  Anges,  who  is  regarded  as 
a  saint  throughout  the  department  of  the  Aube,  and  by  the 
end  of  the  interview,  I  fancy,  no  cloud  will  hang  between 
us." 

All  the  time  this  strange  man  was  talking  his  countenance 
was  so  unmistakably  honest  and  benevolent ;  his  language — 
always  calm,  elegant,  and  moderate — is  so  persuasive  to  his 
audience,  that  I  felt  the  tide  of  my  wrath  ebbing  and  my  con- 
fidence reviving. 

In  fact,  the  answer  was  final.  The  Ursuline  convent,  bless 
me !  cannot  be  a  mint  for  false  coin ;  and  if  Mother  Marie  des 
Anges  will  answer  for  my  father,  as  it  would  seem  she  has 
already  done  to  the  notary,  I  should  be  mad  to  feel  any  further 
doubts. 

"Very  well,"  said  I,  "I  will  go  upstairs  for  my  hat  and 
wait  for  you  on  the  bank  of  the  river." 

"  Do  so.  And  keep  an  eye  on  the  door  of  the  inn,  for  fear 
I  should  make  a  bolt,  as  I  did  from  the  Quai  de  Bethune  !  " 

MARIE-GASTON  TO   MADAME   LA   COMTESSE   DE  l'eSTORADE. 

Arcis-sur-Aube,  May  6,  1839. 

Madame: — I  should  in  any  case  have  availed  myself  with 
pleasure  of  your  commands  that  I  should  write  you  during 
my  stay  here  ;  but  you  have  no  idea  how  great  was  your  kind- 
ness in  granting  me  so  precious  a  favor. 

Dorlange,  whom  I  shall  not  continue  to  call  by  that  name 
— you  shall  presently  learn  why — is  so  much  absorbed  in  the 
cares  of  his  canvass  that  I  scarcely  ever  see  him.  I  told  you, 
madame,  that  I  was  about  to  join  our  friend  here  in  conse- 


218  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

quence  of  some  disturbance  of  mind  that  I  was  aware  of  in  a 
letter  telling  me  of  a  great  change  in  his  life  and  prospects.  I 
am  now  allowed  to  be  more  explicit  on  the  subject — Dorlange 
at  last  knows  his  father.  He  is  the  natural  son  of  the  Mj^rquis 
de  Sallenauve,  the  last  survivor  of  one  of  the  oldest  families  of 
this  province.  The  marquis,  though  giving  no  explanation 
of  the  reasons  that  led  to  his  keeping  his  son's  birth  so  pro- 
foundly secret,  has  just  acknowledged  him  with  every  legal 
formality.  At  the  same  time,  he  has  purchased  for  him  an 
estate  which  had  long  since  ceased  to  belong  to  the  Salle- 
nauvcs,  and  which  will  now  again  be  a  family  possession.  It 
is  actually  in  Arcis,  and  it  seems  probable  that  it  may  be 
advantageous  to  the  electoral  schemes  just  now  under  discus- 
sion. 

What  the  ultimate  purpose  may  be  of  such  considerable 
expenditure  the  marquis  has  never  explained  to  Charles  de 
Sallenauve ;  and  it  was  this  still,  hazy  horizon  to  his  sky  that 
led  the  poor  fellow  to  such  apprehensions  that,  as  a  friend,  I 
could  do  no  less  than  hasten  to  alleviate  them.  Another 
whim  of  my  lord  marquis  is  having  selected  as  his  son's 
chief  elector  an  old  Ursuline  nun,  by  a  sort  of  bargain  in 
which  subsequently  you,  madame,  were  a  factor.  Yes  ;  for 
the  "  Sainte-Ursule,"  for  which  you  unaware  were  the  model, 
will  probably  have  no  little  influence  over  our  friend's  return 
to  the  Chamber. 

This  is  what  happened  :  For  many  years  Mother  Marie  des 
Anges,  superior  of  the  Ursuline  Sisters  at  Arcis-sur-Aube,  had 
dreamed  of  erecting  a  statue  of  the  patron  saint  in  the  con- 
vent chapel.  But  the  abbess,  being  a  woman  of  taste  and  cul- 
ture, would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  hawker's  images  of 
saints,  sold  ready-made  by  the  dealers  ;  on  the  other  hand, 
she  could  not  in  conscience  rob  the  poor  of  a  sum  so  consid- 
erable as  would  pay  for  a  work  of  art  on  commission.  This 
excellent  lady's  nephew  is  an  organist  in  Paris,  and  the  Mar- 
quis de  Sallenauve  while  he  was  traveling  all  over  the  world 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  219 

had  confided  his  son  to  this  man's  care ;  for  all  these  years  his 
first  object  has  been  to  keep  the  poor  boy  in  absolute  igno- 
rance of  his  birth.  When  it  occurred  to  him  to  make  Salle- 
nauve  a  deputy,  Arcis  was  naturally  thought  of  as  the  place 
where  his  family  *'\¥as  still  remembered,  and  every  way  and 
means  was  considered  of  making  acquaintance,  and  utilizing 
all  possible  aids  to  his  election. 

Then  the  organist  remembered  his  aunt's  long-cherished 
ambition ;  he  knew  her  to  have  influence  in  the  district, 
where  she  is  in  great  odor  of  sanctity,  and  also  a  touch  of  the 
spirit  of  intrigue,  ever  ready  to  rush  into  an  affair  that  may 
be  difficult  and  arduous.  He  went  to  see  her  with  the  Marquis 
de  Sallenauve's  concurrence,  and  told  her  that  one  of  the 
most  eminent  of  Paris  sculptors  was  prepared  to  offer  her  a 
statue  of  the  most  masterly  execution,  if  she,  on  her  part, 
»  would  undertake  to  secure  his  return  as  deputy  for  the  district 
of  Arcis  at  the  next  election. 

The  old  abbess  did  not  think  this  at  all  beyond  her  powers. 
So  now  she  is  the  proud  possessor  of  the  object  of  her  pious 
ambition  ;  it  came  safely  to  hand  a  few  days  since,  and  is 
already  in  its  place  in  the  convent  chapel,  where,  ere  long,  it 
will  be  solemnly  dedicated.  Now  it  remains  to  be  seen  how 
the  good  mother  will  perform  her  share  of  the  bargain. 

Well,  madame,  strange  to  say,  all  things  weighed  and  con- 
sidered, I  should  not  at  all  wonder  if  this  singular  woman 
were  to  succeed.  From  the  description  given  me  by  Charles, 
Mother  Marie  des  Anges  is  a  little  woman,  short  but  thick-set, 
with  a  face  that  still  contrives  to  be  attractive  in  spite  of  her 
wrinkles  and  the  saffron-tinted  pallor  induced  by  time  and  by 
the  austerities  of  a  cloister.  She  carries  the  burden  of  a  stout 
figure  and  seventy-six  years  with  ease,  and  is  as  quick,  bright, 
and  spirited  as  the  youngest  of  us.  A  thoroughly  capable 
woman,  she  has  governed  her  house  for  fifty  years,  and  it  has 
always  been  the  best  regulated,  the  most  efficient,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  richest  convent  in  the  whole  diocese  of  Troyes. 


220  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

No  less  well  qualified  for  educating  girls — the  great  end,  as 
you  know,  of  the  Ursuline  Sisterhoods — she  has  for  the  same 
length  of  time,  through  varying  fortunes,  managed  a  lay 
school  which  is  famous  in  the  department  and  in  all  the 
country  round.  Having  thus  presided  over  the  education  of 
almost  all  the  daughters  of  the  better  families  in  the  province, 
it  is  easy  to  understand  that  she  has  ubiquitous  influence  in 
the  aristocratic  circles  of  Champagne,  for  a  well-conducted 
education  always  leads  to  permanent  friendship  between  the 
teacher  and  the  pupils.  She  probably  knows  very  well  how 
to  turn  these  family  connections  to  the  best  advantage  in  the 
contest  she  has  pledged  herself  to  engage  in. 

It  would  seem,  too,  that,  on  the  other  hand,  this  remarkable 
woman  can  absolutely  command  all  the  democratic  votes  in 
the  district.  So  far,  indeed,  on  the  scene  of  the  struggle, 
this  party  has  but  a  sickly  and  doubtful  existence ;  still,  it  is  by 
nature  active  and  busy,  and  it  is  under  that  flag,  with  some  little 
modifications,  that  our  candidate  comes  forward.  Hence,  any 
support  from  that  side  is  useful  and  important.  You,  madame, 
like  me,  will  certainly  admire  the  bicephalous  powers,  so  to 
speak,  of  this  old  abbess,  who  contrives  at  the  same  time  to 
be  in  good  odor  with  the  nobility  and  the  secular  clergy,  while 
wielding  the  conductor's  stick  for  the  radical  party,  their  per- 
ennial foes. 

Her  great  influence  over  the  popular  party  is  based  on  a 
little  contest  she  once  had  with  them.  About  the  year  '93 
that  amiable  faction  proposed  to  cut  off"  her  head.  Turned 
out  of  her  convent,  and  convicted  of  having  sheltered  a  con- 
tumacious priest,  she  was  imprisoned,  brought  before  the  rev- 
olutionary tribunal,  and  condemned  to  the  guillotine.  The 
thing  came  to  Danton's  knowledge ;  he  was  then  a  member  of 
the  Convention.  Danton  had  been  acquainted  with  Mother 
Marie  des  Anges ;  he  believed  her  to  be  the  most  virtuous  and 
enlightened  woman  he  had  ever  seen.  On  hearing  of  her 
sentence  he  flew  into  a  terrific  rage,  wrote  a  letter  from  his 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  221 

"high  horse"  to  the  revolutionary  municipality,  and  com- 
manded a  respite  with  such  authority  as  no  man  in  Arcis 
would  have  dreamed  of  disputing.  He  stood  up  in  the  tribune 
that  very  day ;  and  after  alluding  in  general  terms  to  certain 
sanglants  imbeciles  \<iiose  insane  folly  was  damaging  the  pros- 
pects of  the  Revolution,  he  explained  who  and  what  Mother 
Marie  des  Anges  was,  spoke  of  her  wonderful  gifts  for  the 
training  of  the  young,  and  laid  before  the  meeting  a  sketch 
for  a  decree  by  which  she  was  to  be  placed  at  the  head  of  a 
Great  National  Gynecaeum,  the  details  to  be  regulated  by  sub- 
sequent enactment. 

Robespierre,  who  would  have  regarded  the  Ursuline  nun's 
superior  intelligence  as  an  additional  qualification  for  the  scaf- 
fold, was  not  that  day  present  at  the  sitting ;  the  motion  was  car- 
ried with  enthusiasm.  As  Mother  Marie  des  Anges  could  not 
possibly  carry  out  the  decree  thus  voted  without  a  head  on  her 
shoulders,  she  was  allowed  to  retain  it,  and  the  executioner 
cleared  away  his  machinery.  And  though  the  former  decree, 
authorizing  the  Grand  National  Gynecaeum,  was  presently  for- 
gotten, the  Convention  having  quite  other  matters  to  occupy 
it,  the  good  sister  carried  it  out  on  her  own  lines ;  and  instead 
of  something  Grand,  Greek,  and  National,  with  the  help  of 
some  of  her  former  associates  she  started  a  simple  lay  school  at 
Arcis,  to  which,  as  soon  as  order  was  to  some  degree  restored 
in  the  land  and  in  men's  minds,  pupils  flocked  from  all  the 
neighboring  country. 

Under  the  Emperor,  Mother  Marie  des  Anges  reconstituted 
her  house,  ana  her  first  act  of  government  was  a  signal  piece 
of  gratitude.  She  decided  that  on  the  5th  of  April  every 
year,  the  anniversary  of  Danton's  death,  mass  should  be  said 
in  the  convent  chapel  for  the  repose  of  his  soul. 

To  some  who  objected  to  this  service  for  the  dead — 

"Do  you  know  many  persons,"  she  would  reply,  "for 
whom  it  is  more  necessary  to  implore  Divine  mercy?" 

After  the  Restoration,  the  performance  of  this  mass  became 


222  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

a  matter  of  some  little  difficulty  \  but  Mother  Marie  des  Anges 
would  never  give  it  up,  and  the  veneration  with  which  she  was 
regarded  even  by  those  who  were  most  set  against  what  they 
called  a  scandal,  ended  in  their  making  the  best  of  it.  Under 
the  July  Revolution,  as  you  may  suppose,  this  courageous 
perversity  had  its  reward.  Mother  Marie  des  Anges  is  now 
in  high  favor  at  Court ;  there  is  nothing  she  cannot  obtain 
from  the  most  august  persons  in  command  ;  still,  it  is  but  fair 
to  add  that  she  asks  for  nothing,  not  even  to  help  the  poor ; 
she  finds  the  means  of  supplying  most  of  their  wants  by  her 
judicious  economy  in  dealing  with  the  funds  of  the  community. 
What  is  even  more  obvious  is  that  her  gratitude  to  the  great 
revolutionary  leader  is  a  strong  recommendation  to  that  party  ; 
this,  however,  is  not  the  whole  secret  of  her  influence  with 
them.  The  representative  in  Arcis  of  the  Extreme  Left  is  a 
wealthy  miller,  named  Laurent  Goussard,  who  owns  two  or 
three  mills  on  the  river  Aube.  It  was  this  man,  formerly  a 
member  of  the  revolutionary  municipality  of  Arcis,  and  a  par- 
ticular friend  of  Danton's,  who  wrote  that  terrible  Cordelier 
to  tell  him  of  the  axe  that  hung  over  the  Ursuline  prioress' 
head,  though  this  did  not  hinder  that  worthy  sans-adotte  from 
purchasing  a  large  part  of  tlie  convent  lands  when  they  were 
sold  as  nationalized  property. 

Then,  when  Mother  Marie  des  Anges  was  enabled  to  re- 
constitute her  sisterhood,  Laurent  Goussard,  who  had  not  as 
it  happened  found  the  estate  very  profitable,  came  to  the 
worthy  abbess  and  proposed  to  reinstate  her  in  the  former 
possessions  of  the  abbey.  The  goodman  was  not  making  a 
bad  bargain ;  the  mere  difference  of  value  between  silver  and 
the  assignats  he  had  paid  in  was  a  handsome  turn  of  profit. 
But  Mother  Marie  des  Anges,  who  had  not  forgotten  that  but 
for  his  intervention  Danton  could  have  known  nothing,  de- 
termined to  do  better  than  that  for  the  man  who  had  really 
saved  her  life.  The  Ursuline  sisterhood,  when  Laurent  Gous- 
sard proposed  this  arrangement,  was,  financially  speaking,  in 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  223 

a  flourishing  position.  Since  its  reestablishment  it  had  come 
in  for  some  liberal  donations,  and  the  mother  superior  had 
put  away  a  considerable  sura  during  her  long  management  of 
the  lay  school ;  this  she  generously  handed  over  for  the  use  of 
the  convent.  Laui<ent  Goussard  was,  no  doubt,  somewhat 
amazed  when  she  spoke  to  this  effect : 

"I  cannot  accept  your  offer;  I  cannot  buy  at  the  lowest 
price;  my  conscience  forbids  it.  Before  the  Revolution  the 
convent  lands  were  valued  at  so  much ;  this  is  the  price  I 
propose  to  pay,  not  that  to  which  they  were  brought  down  as 
a  result  of  the  general  depreciation  in  value  of  all  the  national- 
ized lands.  In  short,  my  good  sir,  I  mean  to  pay  more — if 
that  meets  your  views." 

Laurent  Goussard  thought  at  first  that  he  misunderstood 
,  her,  or  had  been  misunderstood ;  but  when  it  dawned  upon 
him  that  the  mother  superior's  scruples  of  conscience  would 
bring  him  a  profit  of  about  fifty  thousand  francs,  he  had  no 
wish  to  coerce  so  delicate  a  conscience,  and  pocketing  this  god- 
send, which  had  really  fallen  from  heaven,  he  made  the  aston- 
ishing facts  known  far  and  wide  ;  and  this,  as  you  may  suppose, 
madame,  raised  Mother  Marie  des  Anges  to  such  estimation 
in  the  eyes  of  every  buyer  of  nationalized  lands  that  she  will 
never  have  anything  to  fear  from  any  revolution.  Personally, 
Laurent  Goussard  is  her  fanatical  adorer ;  he  never  does  a 
stroke  of  business  or  moves  a  sack  of  corn  without  consulting 
her ;  and,  as  she  said  jestingly  the  other  day,  if  she  had  a 
mind  to  treat  the  sub-prefect  like  John  the  Baptist,  in  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  Laurent  Goussard  would  bring  her  that 
official's  head  in  a  sack.  Does  not  that  sufficiently  prove, 
madame,  that  at  a  nod  from  our  abbess  he  will  vote,  and  get 
all  his  friends  to  vote,  for  the  candidate  of  her  choice? 

Mother  Marie  des  Anges  has,  of  course,  a  wide  connection 
among  the  clergy,  both  by  reason  of  her  habit  and  her  reputa- 
tion for  distinguished  virtue;  and  among  her  most  devoted 
allies  may  be  numbered  Monseigneur  Troubert,  the  bishop  of 


224  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

the  diocese,  who,  though  formerly  an  adherent  of  the  Con- 
gregation, would,  under  the  dynasty  of  July,  put  up  with  an 
archbishopric  as  preliminary  to  the  cardinal's  hat.  Now  if, 
to  assist  him  in  this  ambition — justified,  it  must  be  said,  by 
great  and  indisputable  capabilities — Mother  Marie  des  Anges 
were  to  write  a  few  lines  to  the  Queen,  it  is  probable  that  his 
promotion  would  not  be  too  long  deferred.  But  it  will  be 
give  and  take.  If  the  Ursuline  abbess  works  for  the  arch- 
bishopric, Monseigneur  de  Troyes  will  work  the  election. 

Winning  the  clergy  almost  certainly  secures  the  Legitimist 
vote,  for  that  party  is  no  less  passionately  bent  on  freedom  in 
teaching ;  and,  out  of  hatred  for  the  new  (Orleans)  dynasty, 
does  not  even  take  fright  at  seeing  that  principle  in  monstrous 
alliance  with  radical  politics.  The  head  of  that  party  in  this 
district  is  the  family  of  Cinq-Cygne.  The  old  marquise, 
whose  haughty  temper  and  determined  will  are  known  to  you, 
madame,  never  comes  to  the  Chateau  of  Cinq-Cygne  without 
visiting  Mother  Marie  des  Anges,  whose  pupil  her  daughter 
Berthe  formerly  was — now  the  Duchesse  de  Maufrigneuse ;  as 
to  the  duke,  he  will  certainly  support  us,  for,  as  you  know, 
Daniel  d' Arthez  is  a  great  friend  of  mine,  and  through  Arthez 
we  are  certain  to  secure  the  interest  of  the  Princesse  de 
Cadignan,  our  handsome  duke's  mother,  so  we  may  count  on 
him. 

If  we  now  turn  to  a  more  obdurate  party — the  Conserva- 
tives, who  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  Ministerialists — 
their  leader  is  the  Comte  de  Gondreville,  your  husband's 
colleague  in  the  Upper  Chamber.  At  his  heels  comes  a  very 
influential  voter,  his  old  friend,  the  former  mayor  and  notary 
of  Arcis,  who  in  his  turn  drags  in  his  train  a  no  less  important 
elector,  Maitre  Achille  Pigoult,  to  whom,  on  retiring,  he 
sold  his  connection.  But  Mother  Marie  des  Anges  has  a 
strong  hold  on  the  Comte  de  Gondreville  through  his  daugh- 
ter, the  Marechale  de  Carigliano.  This  great  lady,  who,  as 
you  are  aware,  is  immensely  devout,  comes  every  year  to  the 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  225 

UrsuHne  convent  for  a  penitential  retreat.  Mother  Marie  des 
Anges  says,  moreover,  though  she  gives  no  explanations,  that 
she  has  a  hold  on  the  old  count  through  some  circumstances 
known  only  to  herself;  and,  in  fact,  this  regicide's  career — 
becoming  a  senator^  ^i  count  of  the  Empire,  and  now  a  peer 
of  France — must  have  led  him  through  devious  and  subterra- 
nean ways,  making  it  probable  that  there  have  been  secret 
passages  which  he  would  not  care  to  have  brought  to  light. 
Now,  Gondreville  is  one  with  Grevin,  for  fifty  years  his  second 
self  and  active  tool ;  and  even  supposing  that  by  some  impos- 
sible chance  their  long  union  should  be  severed,  at  least  we 
should  be  sure  of  Achille  Pigoult,  Grevin' s  successor  as  notary 
to  the  Ursuline  sisterhood ;  indeed,  at  the  time  of  the  acqui- 
sition of  the  estate  in  Arcis  by  the  Marquis  de  Sallenauve, 
which  was  effected  through  him,  the  purchaser  took  care  to 
pay  him  a  honorarium  so  large — so  electoral — that  he  pledged 
himself  merely  by  accepting  it. 

As  to  the  ruck  of  the  voters,  our  friend  is  certain  to  recruit 
a  strong  force,  since  he  is  about  to  give  them  employment  on 
the  important  repairs  he  proposes  to  begin  at  once ;  for  the 
castle,  nf  which  he  is  now  the  proprietor,  is,  fortunately,  fall- 
ing into  ruin  in  many  places.  We  may  also  trust  to  the  effect 
of  a  magniloquent  profession  of  principles  which  Charles  de 
Sallenauve  has  just  had  printed,  setting  forth  in  lofty  terms 
that  he  will  accept  neither  favors  nor  office  from  the  Govern- 
ment. 

You  have  some  kind  feeling  for  me,  because  the  fragrance 
still  clings  to  me  of  our  beloved  Louise ;  have  then  some  little 
regard  for  the  man  whom  I  have  dared  to  speak  of  throughout 
this  letter  as  our  friend.  If  indeed,  do  what  he  will,  he  be- 
trays a  sort  of  insufferable  greatness,  should  we  not  rather  pity 
him  than  call  him  to  a  strict  account  ?  Do  we  not  know,  you 
and  I,  by  cruel  experience,  that  the  noblest  and  most  glorious 
lights  are  those  which  first  sink  into  the  extinction  of  eternal 
darkness  ? 
15 


226  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 


MARIE-GASTON  TO  THE   COMTESSE   DE   L  ESTORADE. 

Arcis-sur-Aube,  May  13,  1839. 

Madame  : — You,  too,  have  the  election  fever,  and  you 
have  been  good  enough  to  transmit  as  a  message  from  M.  de 
I'Estorade  a  certain  list  of  discouragements,  which  no  doubt 
deserve  consideration.  I  may,  however,  say  at  once  that  this 
communication  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be  so  important  as 
you,  perhaps,  think ;  and  even  before  your  official  warning 
reached  us,  the  difficulties  in  our  course  had  not  failed  to 
occur  to  us.  We  knew  already  of  the  confidential  mission 
undertaken  by  M.  de  Trailles,  though  for  some  days  he  tried, 
not  very  successfully,  to  disguise  it  under  a  pretense  of  com- 
mercial business.  We  even  knew  what  you,  madame,  do  not 
seem  to  have  known,  that  this  ingenious  instrument  of  the 
ministerial  mind  had  contrived  to  combine  the  care  of  his 
personal  interests  with  that  of  party  politics. 

M.  Maxime  de  Trailles,  if  we  are  correctly  informed,  was 
not  long  since  on  the  point  of  sinking  under  the  last  and 
worst  attack  of  a  chronic  malady  from  which  he  has  long 
suffered.  This  malady  is  Debt — for  we  do  not  speak  of  M. 
de  Trailles'  debts,  but  of  his  Debt,  as  of  the  National  Debt  of 
England.  In  extremis,  the  gentleman,  bent  on  some  desperate 
remedy,  seems  to  have  hoped  for  a  cure  in  marriage — a  mar- 
riage in  extremis,  as  it  might  well  be  called,  since  he  is  said 
to  be  very  near  fifty.  Being  well  known — that  is  to  say,  in 
his  case,  much  depreciated — in  Paris,  like  trades-people  whose 
goods  are  out  of  date,  he  packed  himself  off  to  the  country, 
and  unpacked  himself  at  Arcis-sur-Aube  just  as  the  fun  of  the 
election  was  beginning,  wisely  supposing  that  the  rather  up- 
roarious tumult  of  this  kind  of  political  scrimmage  might  favor 
the  slightly  shady  character  of  his  proceedings. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  public  affairs,  M.  Beauvisage, 
whose  name,  madame,  you  will  certainly  remember,  has  the 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  227 

immense  advantage  of  having  thoroughly  beaten  and  crushed 
the  nomination  of  a  little  attorney  named  Simon  Giguet,  who, 
to  the  great  indignation  of  the  Government,  wanted  to  take 
his  seat  with  the  Left  Centre.  This  ousting  of  a  pert  upstart 
on  the  side  of  the  Opposition  was  thought  such  an  inestimable 
boon,  that  it  led  folk  to  overlook  the  notorious  and  indis- 
putable ineptitude  of  this  Beauvisage,  and  the  ridicule  which 
his  return  could  not  fail  to  bring  on  those  who  should  vote 
for  his  election. 

But  then  we  appeared  on  the  scene.  We  are  of  the  province ; 
Champions  by  the  name  that  dropped  on  us  one  morning 
from  the  skies ;  we  make  ourselves  even  more  so  by  acquiring 
land  in  the  district ;  and,  as  it  happens,  the  country  is  bent 
at  this  election  on  sending  no  one  to  the  Chamber  but  a 
specimen  of  its  own  vintage  ! 

We  are  not  quite  so  idiotic  as  Beauvisage ;  we  do  not  in- 
variably make  ourselves  ridiculous  ;  we  do  not,  indeed,  make 
cotton  night-caps,  but  we  make  statues  for  which  we  have 
earned  the  Legion  of  Honor ;  religious  statues,  to  be  dedi- 
cated with  much  pomp  in  the  presence  of  Monseigneur  the 
Bishop,  who  will  condescend  to  give  an  address,  and  of  the 
municipal  authorities  ;  statues  which  the  whole  of  the  town 
— that  part  of  it  which  is  not  admitted  to  the  ceremony — is 
crowding  to  admire  at  the  house  of  the  Ursulines,  who  are 
vain  enough  of  this  magnificent  addition  to  their  gem  of  a 
chapel,  and  threw  open  their  public  rooms  and  oratory  to  all 
comers  for  the  whole  day — and  this  you  may  be  sure  tends  to 
make  us  popular. 

What  contributes  even  better  to  this  popularity  is  that  we 
are  not  mean  like  Beauvisage,  and  do  not  hoard  our  income 
sou  by  sou  ;  that  we  are  employing  thirty  workmen  at  the 
castle — painters,  masons,  glaziers,  gardeners,  trellis-makers  ; 
and  that  while  the  mayor  of  the  town  trudges  shabbily  on 
foot,  we  are  to  be  seen  driving  through  Arcis  in  an  elegant 
open  chaise  with  two  prancing  steeds,  which  our  father — not 


228  THE  DEPUTY  FOR   ARCIS. 

in  heaven,  but  in  Paris — anxious  to  be  even  more  delightful 
at  a  distance  than  on  the  spot,  sent  hither  post-haste,  with  a 
view,  I  believe,  to  snuffing  out  M.  de  Trailles'  tilbury  and 
tiger.  These,  I  may  tell  you,  before  our  arrival  were  the  talk 
of  the  town. 

Yesterday,  madame,  we  drove  out  in  our  chaise  to  the 
Chateau  of  Cinq-Cygne,  where  Arthez  introduced  us  to  the 
Princesse  de  Cadignan.  That  woman  is  really  miraculously 
preserved ;  she  seems  to  have  been  embalmed  by  the  happi- 
ness of  her  liaison  with  the  great  writer.  "  They  are  the 
prettiest  picture  of  happiness  ever  seen,"  you  said,  I  remem- 
ber, of  M.  and  Mme.  de  Portenduere ;  and  you  might  say  the 
same  of  Arthez  and  the  princess,  altering  the  word  "pretty" 
in  consideration  of  their  Indian  summer, 

Mme,  de  Maufrigneuse  and  the  old  Marquise  de  Cinq- 
Cygne  were  wonderfully  kind  in  their  reception  of  Dorlange 
— Sallenauve,  I  should  say,  but  I  find  it  difficult  to  remem- 
ber ;  as  they  are  less  humble  than  you  are,  they  were  not 
frightened  at  any  loftiness  they  might  meet  with  in  our 
friend,  and  he,  in  an  interview  which  was  really  rather  diffi- 
cult, behaved  to  perfection.  It  is  very  strange  that  after 
living  so  much  alone,  he  should  at  once  have  turned  out  per- 
fectly presentable.  Is  it  perhaps  that  the  Beautiful,  which 
has  hitherto  been  the  ruling  idea  of  his  life,  includes  all  that 
is  pleasing,  elegant,  and  appropriate — things  which  are  gen- 
erally learned  by  practice  as  opportunity  offers  ?  But  this 
cannot  be  the  case,  for  I  have  seen  very  eminent  artists, 
especially  sculptors,  who,  outside  their  studios,  were  simply 
unendurable. 

May  lo. 

Yesterday  we  gave  a  notable  dinner,  dear  madame  ;  it  was 

a  magnificent  affair,  and  will,  I  fancy,  be  long  talked  of  in 

Arcis,     Sallenauve  has  in  the  organist — who,  by  the  way,  at 

the  ceremony  of  the  statue  yesterday,  displayed  his  exquisite 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  229 

talent  on  the  good  sister's  organ — a  sort  of  steward  and  fac- 
totum transcending  all  the  Vatels  that  ever  lived.  He  is  not 
the  man  to  fall  on  his  sword  because  the  fish  is  late.  Colored 
lamps,  transparencies,  garlands,  and  drapery  to  decorate  the 
dining-room,  even  a  little  packet  of  fireworks  which  had  been 
stowed  in  the  boot  of  the  chaise  by  that  surly  and  invisible 
father — who  has  his  good  side,  however — nothing  was  wanting 
to  the  festivities.  They  were  kept  up  till  a  late  hour  in  the 
gardens  of  the  castle,  to  which  the  plebs  were  admitted  to 
dance  and  drink  copiously. 

Almost  all  our  guests  appeared,  excepting  those  whom  we 
had  asked  merely  to  compromise  them.  The  invitation  was 
so  short — a  difficulty  inevitable  and  pardonable  under  the 
circumstances — that  it  was  quite  amusing  to  see  notes  of 
excuse  arriving  up  to  the  very  dinner  hour,  for  Sallenauve  had 
ordered  that  they  should  all  be  brought  to  him  as  soon  as 
they  arrived.  And  as  he  opened  each  letter  he  took  care  to 
say  quite  audibly:  **  M.  le  Sous-prefet — M.  le  Procureur  du 
Roi-!-The  Deputy  Judge — expresses  his  regrets  at  being  unable 
to  accept  my  invitation. 

All  these  "refusals  of  support"  were  listened  to  with  sig- 
nificant smiles  and  whispering  ;  but  when  a  note  was  brought 
from  Beauvisage,  and  Dorlange  read  aloud  that  M.  le  Maire 
**  found  it  impossible  to  correspond  to  his  polite  invitation," 
laughter  was  loud  and  long,  as  much  at  the  matter  as  the 
manner  of  the  refusal.  It  ended  only  on  the  arrival  of  a  M. 
Martener,  examining  judge  here,  who  showed  the  highest 
courage  in  accepting  this  dinner.  At  the  same  time,  it  may 
be  noted  that  an  examining  judge  is  in  his  nature  a  divisible 
entity.  As  a  judge  he  is  a  permanent  official ;  all  the  change 
he  can  be  subject  to  is  that  of  his  title,  and  the  loss  of  the 
small  additional  salary  he  is  allowed,  with  the  right  to  issue 
summonses  and  catechise  thieves,  grand  privileges  of  which 
he  may  be  deprived  by  the  fiat  of  the  keeper  of  the  seals. 

In  the  presence  of  the  Due  de  Maufrigneuse,  of  Arthez, 


230  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

and,  above  all,  of  Monseigneur  the  Bishop,  who  is  spending  a 
few  days  at  Cinq-Cygne,  one  absentee  was  much  commented 
on,  though  his  reply,  sent  early  in  the  day,  was  not  read  to 
the  company.  This  was  the  old  notary  Grevin.  As  to  the 
Comte  de  Gondreville,  also  absent,  nothing  could  be  said ; 
the  recent  death  of  his  grandson  Charles  Keller  prohibited  his 
presence  at  this  meeting ;  and  Sallenauve,  by  making  his  invi- 
tation in  some  sort  conditional,  had  been  careful  to  suggest 
the  excuse;  but  Grevin,  the  Comte  de  Gondreville's  right 
hand,  who  has  certainly  made  greater  and  more  compromising 
efforts  for  his  friend  than  that  of  dining  out — Grevin's  absence 
seemed  to  imply  that  his  patron  was  still  a  supporter  of  Beau- 
visage,  now  almost  deserted.  And  this  influence — lying  low,  in 
sporting  phrase — is  really  of  no  small  importance  to  us.  Maitre 
Achille  Pigoult,  Grevin's  successor,  explained,  it  is  true,  that 
the  old  man  lives  in  complete  retirement,  and  can  hardly  be 
persuaded  to  dine  even  with  his  son-in-law  two  or  three  times 
a  year ;  but  the  retort  was  obvious  that  when  the  sub-prefect 
had  lately  given  a  dinner  to  introduce  the  Beauvisage  family 
to  M.  Maxime  de  Trailles,  Grevin  had  been  ready  to  accept 
his  invitation.  So  there  will  be  some  little  pull  from  the 
Gondreville  party,  and  Mother  Marie  des  Anges  will,  I  believe, 
have  to  bring  her  secret  thrust  into  play. 

The  pretext  for  the  dinner  being  the  dedication  of  the 
Sainte-Ursule,  an  event  which  the  sisterhood  could  not  cele- 
brate by  a  banquet,  Sallenauve  had  a  fine  opportunity  at  dessert 
for  proposing  a  toast — 

"  To  the  mother  of  the  poor ;  to  the  noble  and  saintly  spirit 
which  for  fifty  years  has  shone  on  our  Province,  and  to  whom 
is  due  the  prodigious  number  of  cultivated  and  accomplished 
women  who  adorn  this  beautiful  land  !  " 

You  yourself  mentioned  to  me  that  your  son  Armand  saw  a 
strong  resemblance  in  Sallenauve  to  the  portraits  of  Danton  ; 
it  would  seem  that  the  remark  is  true,  for  I  heard  it  on  all 
sides,  applied  not  to  the  portraits,  but  to  the  man  himself,  by 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  231 

guests  who  had  known  the  great  revolutionary  well.  Laurent 
Goussard,  as  the  head  of  a  party,  had  of  course  been  invited. 
He  was  not  only  Danton's  friend,  he  was  in  a  way  his  brother- 
in-law  ;  Danton,  who  was  a  scapegrace  wooer,  having  paid  his 
court  for  several  years  to  one  of  the  honest  miller's  sisters. 
Well,  the  likeness  must  in  fact  be  striking ;  for  after  dinner, 
while  we  were  drinking  our  coffee,  the  wine  of  the  country 
having  mounted  a  little  to  the  good  man's  brain — for  there 
had  been  no  stint,  as  you  may  suppose — he  went  up  to  Salle- 
nauve  and  asked  him  point-blank  if  he  could  by  any  chance 
be  mistaken  as  to  his  father,  and  if  he  were  sure  that  Danton 
had  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  begetting  of  him. 

Sallenauve  laughed  at  the  idea,  and  simply  did  a  little  sum — 

"  Danton  died  on  April  5,  1793.  To  be  his  son  I  must 
have  been  born  in  1 794  at  the  latest,  and  should  be  five-and- 
forty  now.  Now,  as  the  register  in  which  my  birth  was 
entered — father  and  mother  unknown — is  dated  1809,  that — 
and  I  hope  my  face  as  well — prove  me  to  be  but  just  thirty." 

"Quite  true,"  said  Laurent  Goussard,  "the  figures  bowl 
me  over.     Never  mind;  we  will  elect  you  all  the  same." 

And  I  believe  the  man  is  right ;  this  whimsical  likeness  will 
be  of  immense  weight  in  turning  the  scale  of  the  election. 
And  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  Danton  is  an  object  of 
execration  and  horror  to  the  citizens  of  Arcis,  in  spite  of  the 
dreadful  associations  that  surround  his  memory.  In  the  first 
place,  time  has  softened  them,  and  there  yet  remains  the  rec- 
ollection of  a  strong  mind  and  great  brain  that  they  are  proud 
of  owning  in  a  fellow-countryman.  At  Arcis  curiosities  and 
notabilities  are  scarce  ;  here  the  people  speak  of  Danton  as  at 
Marseilles  they  would  speak  of  the  Cannebiere. 

These  voters,  extra  muros,  are  sometimes  amusingly  art- 
less ;  a  little  contradiction  does  not  stick  in  their  throat. 
Some  agents  sent  out  into  the  neighboring  country  have  already 
made  good  use  of  this  resemblance;  and  as  in  canvassing  the 
rustics  it  is  more  important  to  strike   hard  than  to  strike 


232  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

Straight,  Laurent  Goussard's  explanation,  apocryphal  as  it  is, 
has  gone  the  round  of  the  rural  hamlets  with  a  precision  that 
has  met  with  no  contradiction.  And  while  this  revolutionary 
parentage,  though  purely  imaginary,  is  serving  our  friend 
well,  on  the  other  hand  we  say  to  those  worthy  voters  who 
are  to  be  caught  by  something  at  once  more  accurate  and  not 
less  striking — 

**  He  is  the  gentleman  who  has  just  bought  the  Chateau 
d'Arcis." 

And  as  the  Chateau  d'Arcis  towers  above  the  town  and  is 
known  to  everybody  for  miles  round,  it  is  a  sort  of  landmark; 
and  at  the  same  time,  with  a  perennial  instinct  of  reversion  to 
old-world  traditions,  less  dead  and  buried  than  might  be  sup- 
posed. 

'*Oho !  he  is  the  lord  of  the  chateau,"  they  say,  a  free  but 
respectful  version  of  the  idea  suggested  to  them. 

So  this,  madame,  saving  your  presence,  is  the  procedure  in 
the  electoral  kitchen,  and  the  way  to  dress  and  serve  up  a 
Deputy  of  the  Chamber. 

MARIE-GASTON  TO   MADAME  DE    l'ESTORADE. 

Arcis-sur-Aube,  May  ii,  1839. 

Madame: — Since  you  do  me  the  honor  to  say  that  my 
letters  amuse  you,  I  am  bound  not  to  be  shy  of  repeating 
them.  But  is  not  this  a  little  humiliating?  and  when  I  think 
of  the  terrible  grief  which  was  our  first  bond  of  union,  is  it 
possible  that  I  should  be  an  amusing  man  all  the  rest  of  my 
days?  Here,  as  I  have  told  you,  I  am  in  an  atmosphere  that 
intoxicates  me.  I  have  made  a  passion  of  Sallenauve's 
success,  and  being,  as  I  am,  of  a  gloomy  and  hopeless  nature, 
an  even  greater  passion  perhaps  of  the  wish  to  hinder  the 
triumph  of  ineptitude  and  folly  under  the  patronage  of  base 
interest  and  intrigue. 

To-day,  madame,  the  grotesque  is  paramount ;  we  are  on 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  233 

full  parade.  Notwithstanding  M.  de  TEstorade's  discouraging 
warnings,  we  are  led  to  suppose  that  the  Ministry  has  not  very 
exultant  tidings  from  its  agent ;  and  this  is  what  makes  us  think 
so  :  We  are  no  l(jnger  at  the  Hotel  de  la  Poste ;  we  have  left 
it  for  our  castle.  "  But,  thanks  to  a  long-standing  rivalry 
between  the  two  inns,  la  Poste  and  le  Mulct — where  M.  de 
Trailles  has  his  headquarters — we  still  have  ample  information 
from  our  former  residence ;  and  our  host  there  is  all  the  more 
zealous  and  willing  because  I  strongly  suspect  that  he  had  a 
hand,  greatly  to  his  advantage  I  should  think,  in  arranging 
and  furnishing  the  banquet. 

From  this  man,  then,  we  learn  that  immediately  after  our 
departure,  a  journalist  from  Paris  put  up  at  the  hotel.  This 
gentleman,  whose  name  I  have  forgotten — which  is  well  for 
him,  considering  how  glorious  a  mission  he  bears — also  an- 
nounced that  he  came  as  a  champion  to  lend  the  vis  of  his 
Parisian  wit  to  the  war  of  words  to  be  opened  on  us  by  the 
local  press,  subsidized  by  the  "  ofiEice  of  public  spirit."  So 
far  there  is  nothing  very  droll  or  very  depressing  in  the  pro- 
ceedings ;  ever  since  the  world  began  Governments  have  been 
able  to  find  pens  for  hire,  and  have  never  been  shy  of  hiring 
them.  Where  the  comedy  begins  is  at  the  co-arrival  at  the 
Hotel  de  la  Poste  of  a  damsel  of  very  doubtful  virtue,  who  is 
said  indeed  to  have  accompanied  his  excellency  the  Ministerial 
newsmonger.  The  young  lady's  name,  by  the  way,  I  happen 
to  remember :  she  is  designated  on  her  passport  as  Mademoi- 
selle Chocardelle,  of  independent  means ;  but  the  journalist 
in  speaking  of  her  never  calls  her  anything  but  Antonia,  or, 
if  he  yearns  to  be  respectful,  Mademoiselle  or  Miss  Antonia. 

But  what  has  brought  Mile.  Chocardelle  to  Arcis  ?  A  little 
pleasure  trip,  no  doubt ;  or  perhaps  to  serve  as  an  escort  to 
Monsieur  the  Journalist,  who  is  willing  to  give  her  a  share  in 
the  credit  account  opened  for  him  on  the  secret-service  fund 
for  the  daily  quota  of  defamation  to  be  supplied  by  contract  ? 
No,  madame.     Mile.  Chocardelle  has  come  to  Arcis  on  busi- 


234  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

ness — to  recover  certain  moneys.  It  would  seem  that  before 
leaving  for  Africa,  where  he  has  met  a  glorious  death,  young 
Charles  Keller  signed  a  bill  in  favor  of  Mile.  Antonia,  an 
order  for  ten  thousand  francs,  value  received  in  furniture,  a 
really  ingenious  quibble,  the  furniture  having  obviously  been 
received  by  Mile.  Chocardelle,  who  thus  priced  the  sacrifice 
she  made  in  accepting  it  at  ten  thousand  francs.  At  any  rate, 
the  bill  being  nearly  due,  a  few  days  after  hearing  of  the  death 
of  her  debtor  Mile.  Antonia  called  at  the  Kellers'  office  to 
know  whether  it  would  be  paid.  The  cashier,  a  rough  cus- 
tomer, as  all  cashiers  are,  replied  tliat  he  did  not  know  how 
Mile.  Antonia  could  have  the  face  to  present  such  a  claim ; 
but  that  in  any  case  the  Brothers  Keller,  his  masters,  were  at 
present  at  Gondreville,  where  all  the  family  had  met  on  hear- 
ing the  fatal  news,  and  that  he  should  not  pay  without  refer- 
ring the  matter  to  them. 

"Very  well,  I  will  refer  it  myself,"  said  the  young  lady, 
who  would  not  leave  her  bill  to  run  beyond  its  date. 

Thereupon,  just  as  she  was  arranging  to  set  out  alone  for 
Arcis,  the  Government  suddenly  felt  a  call  to  abuse  us,  if  not 
more  grossly,  at  any  rate  more  brilliantly  than  the  provincials 
do  ;  and  the  task  of  sharpening  these  darts  was  confided  to  a 
journalist  of  very  mature  youth,  to  whom  Mile.  Antonia  had 
been  kind — in  the  absence  of  Charles  Keller  ! 

"I  am  off  to  Arcis  !  "  the  scrivener  and  the  lady  said  at 
the  same  moment ;  the  commonest  and  simplest  lives  offer 
such  coincidences.  So  it  is  not  very  strange  that,  having  set 
out  together,  they  should  have  arrived  together,  and  have  put 
up  at  the  same  inn. 

And  now  I  would  beg  you  to  admire  the  concatenation  of 
things.  Mile.  Chocardelle,  coming  here  with  an  eye  solely 
to  finance,  the  lady  has  suddenly  assumed  the  highest  political 
importance  !  And,  as  you  will  see,  her  valuable  influence  will 
amply  compensate  for  the  stinging  punishment  to  be  dealt  us 
by  her  gallant  fellow-traveler. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  235 

In  the  first  place,  it  appears  that  on  learning  that  M.  de 
Trailles  was  in  Arcis,  Mile.  Chocardelle's  remark  was — 

"  What !  he  here — that  horrid  rip?" 

The  expression  is  not  parliamentary,  and  I  blush  as  I  write 
it.  But  it  refers  fo  previous  relations — business  relations 
again — between  Mile.  Antonia  and  the  illustrious  confidant  of 
the  Ministerial  party.  M.  de  Trailles,  accustomed  as  he  is  to 
pay  his  court  only  to  ladies  of  position — who  help  to  reduce 
his  debt  rather  than  to  add  to  the  burden — once  in  his  life 
took  it  into  his  head  to  be  loved  not  "for  himself  alone," 
and  to  be  useful  rather  than  expensive.  He  consequently 
bought  a  circulating  library  for  Mademoiselle  Antonia  in  the 
Rue  Coquenard,  where  for  some  time  she  sat  enthroned.  But 
the  business  was  not  a  success ;  a  sale  became  necessary  ;  and 
M.  Maxime  de  Trailles,  with  an  eye  to  business  as  usual,  com- 
plicated matters  by  the  purchase  of  the  furniture,  which 
slipped  through  his  fingers  by  the  cleverness  of  a  rascal  more 
rascally  than  himself.  By  these  manoeuvres  Mile.  Antonia 
lost  all  her  furniture,  which  the  vans  were  waiting  to  remove ; 
and  another  young  lady — Hortense,  also  "  of  private  means," 
and  attached  to  old  Lord  Dudley — gained  twenty-five  louis  by 
Antonia's  mishap. 

The  journalist  has  much  to  do :  to  write  his  articles  in  the 
first  place,  and  to  do  various  small  jobs  for  M.  de  Trailles,  at 
whose  service  he  is  to  be.  Hence  Mile.  Antonia  is  often  left 
to  herself,  and,  idle  and  bored  as  she  is,  so  bereft  of  any  kind 
of  opera,  Ranelagh,  Boulevard  des  Italiens,  she  has  found  for 
herself  a  really  desperate  pastime.  Incredible  as  it  seems, 
this  amusement  is  not,  after  all,  utterly  incomprehensible,  as 
the  device  of  a  Parisienne  of  her  class  exiled  to  Arcis.  Quite 
close  to  the  Hotel  de  la  Poste  is  a  bridge  over  the  Aube. 
Below  the  bridge,  down  a  rather  steep  slope,  a  path  has  been 
made  leading  to  the  water's  edge,  and  so  far  beneath  the  high 
road — which,  indeed,  is  not  much  frequented — as  to  promise 
precious  silence  and  solitude  to  those  who  choose  to  go  there 


236  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

and  dream  to  the  music  of  the  waters.  Mile.  Antonia  at  first 
betook  herself  to  sit  there  with  a  book ;  but  perhaps,  from  a 
painful  association  with  the  remembrance  of  her  reading-room, 
"books,"  as  she  says,  "are  not  much  in  her  line;"  and  at 
last  the  landlady  of  the  inn,  seeing  how  tired  the  poor  soul 
was  of  herself,  happily  thought  of  offering  her  guest  the  use 
of  a  very  complete  set  of  fishing-tackle  belonging  to  her  hus- 
band, whose  multifarious  business  compels  him  to  leave  it  for 
the  most  part  idle. 

The  fair  exile  had  some  luck  with  her  first  attempts,  and 
took  a  great  liking  for  the  pastime,  which  is  evidently  very 
fascinating,  since  it  has  so  many  fanatical  devotees ;  and  now 
the  few  passers-by,  who  cross  the  bridge,  may  admire,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Aube,  a  charming  water-nymph  in  flounced 
skirts  and  a  broad-brimmed  straw  hat,  casting  her  line  with  the 
conscientious  gravity  of  the  most  sportsmanlike  Paris  arab,  in 
spite  of  the  changes  of  our  yet  unsettled  temperature. 

So  far  so  good,  and  at  present  the  lady's  fishing  has  not 
much  to  do  with  our  election ;  but  if  you  should  happen  to 
remember  in  "  Don  Quixote" — a  book  you  appreciate,  mad- 
ame,  for  the  sake  of  the  good  sense  and  mirthful  philosophy 
that  abound  in  it — a  somewhat  unpleasant  adventure  that  be- 
falls Rosinante  among  the  muleteers,  you  will  anticipate,  be- 
fore I  tell  you,  the  good  luck  to  us  that  has  resulted  from 
Mademoiselle  Antonia's  suddenly  developed  fancy.  Our 
rival,  Beauvisage,  is  not  merely  a  hosier  (retired)  and  an  ex- 
emplary mayor,  he  is  also  a  model  husband,  never  having 
tripped  in  the  path  of  virtue,  respecting  and  admiring  his 
wife.  Every  evening,  by  her  orders,  he  is  in  bed  by  ten 
o'clock,  while  Madame  Beauvisage  and  her  daughter  go  into 
what  Arcis  is  agreed  to  call  Society.  But  silent  waters  are 
the  deepest,  they  say,  and  nothing  could  be  less  chaste  and 
well  regulated  than  the  calm  and  decorous  Rosinante  in  the 
meeting  I  have  alluded  to.  In  short,  Beauvisage,  making  the 
rounds  of  his  town — his  laudable  and  daily  habit — standing 


^ 


BEAUVISACE STANDING  ON  THE  BRIDGE,  HAPPENED 

TO  REMARK  THE  DAMSEL. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS,  237 

on  the  bridge,  happened  to  remark  the  damsel,  her  arm  ex- 
tended with  manly  vigor,  her  figure  gracefully  balanced,  ab- 
sorbed in  her  favorite  sport.  A  bewitching,  impatient  jerk 
as  the  fair  fisher-maiden  drew  up  the  line  when  she  had  not  a 
nibble,  was,  perliaps,  the  electric  spark  which  fired  the  heart 
of  the  hitherto  blameless  magistrate.  None,  indeed,  can  tell 
how  the  matter  came  about,  nor  at  what  precise  moment. 

I  may,  however,  observe  that  in  the  interval  between  his 
retirement  from  the  cotton  night-cap  trade  and  his  election 
as  mayor,  Beauvisage  himself  had  practiced  the  art  of  angling 
with  distinguished  skill,  and  would  do  so  still  but  for  his 
higher  dignity,  which — unlike  Louis  XIV. — keeps  him  from 
the  shore.  It  struck  him,  no  doubt,  that  the  poor  girl,  with 
more  good- will  than  knowledge,  did  not  set  to  work  the  right 
way  ;  and  it  is  not  impossible  that,  as  she  is  temporarily  under 
his  jurisdiction,  the  idea  of  guiding  her  into  the  right  way  was 
the  origin  of  his  apparent  misconduct.  This  alone  is  certain  : 
crossing  the  bridge  with  her  mother.  Mile.  Beauvisage,  like  an 
enfant  terrible,  suddenly  exclaimed — 

"  Why,  papa  is  talking  to  that  Paris  woman  !  " 

To  make  sure,  by  a  glance,  of  the  monstrous  fact ;  to  rush 
down  the  slope ;  to  face  her  husband,  whom  she  found  beam- 
ing with  smiles  and  the  blissful  look  of  a  sheep  in  clover ;  to 
crush  him  with  a  thundering  "Pray,  what  are  you  doing 
here?"  to  leave  him  no  retreat  but  into  the  river,  and  issue 
her  sovereign  command  that  he  should  go — this,  madame,  was 
the  prompt  action  of  Mme.  Beauvisage  nee  Grevin  ;  while 
Mile.  Chocardelle,  at  first  amazed,  but  soon  guessing  what 
had  happened,  went  into  fits  of  the  most  uncontrollable 
laughter.  And  though  these  proceedings  may  be  regarded  as 
justifiable,  they  cannot  be  called  judicious,  for  the  catastrophe 
was  known  to  the  whole  town  by  the  evening,  and  M.  Beau- 
visage, convicted  of  the  most  deplorable  laxity,  saw  a  still 
further  thinning  of  his  reduced  phalanx  of  followers. 

However,  the  Gondreville-Gr^vin  faction  still  held  its  own. 


238  THE  DEPUTY  FOR   ARC  IS. 

till — would  you  believe  it? — Mile.  Antonia  once  more  was 
the  means  of  overthrowing  their  last  defenses. 

This  is  the  history  of  the  marvel :  Mother  Marie  des  Anges 
wished  for  an  interview  with  the  Comte  de  Gondreville  ;  but 
she  did  not  know  how  to  manage  it,  as  she  thought  it  an  ill- 
timed  request.  Having  some  severe  remarks  to  make,  it 
would  seem,  she  would  not  ask  the  old  man  to  visit  her  on 
purpose ;  it  was  too  cruel  an  offense  to  charity.  Beside,  com- 
minations  fired  point-blank  at  the  culprit  miss  their  aim  quite 
as  often  as  they  frighten  him ;  whereas  observations  softly  in- 
sinuated are  far  more  certain  to  have  the  desired  effect.  Still, 
time  was  fleeting ;  ^e  election  takes  place  to-morrow — Sun- 
day— and  to-night  the  preliminary  meeting  is  to  be  held.  The 
poor,  dear  lady  did  not  know  which  way  to  turn,  when  some 
information  reached  her  which  was  not  a  little  flattering.  A 
fair  sinner,  who  had  come  to  Arcis  intending  to  get  some 
money  out  of  Keller,  Gondreville's  son-in-law,  had  heard  of 
the  virtues  of  Mother  Marie  des  Anges,  of  her  indefatigable 
kindness  and  her  fine  old  age — in  short,  all  that  is  said  of  her 
in  the  district  where  she  is,  next  to  Danton,  the  chief  object 
of  interest ;  and  this  minx's  great  regret  was  that  she  dared 
not  ask  to  be  admitted  to  her  presence. 

An  hour  later,  this  note  was  delivered  at  the  H6tel  de  la 
Poste : 

"  Mademoiselle  : — I  am  told  that  you  wish  to  see  me,  and 
do  not  know  how.  Nothing  can  be  easier:  ring  at  the  door 
of  my  solemn  dwelling,  ask  the  sister  who  opens  it  for  me,  do 
not  be  overawed  by  my  black  dress  and  grave  face,  nor  fancy 
that  I  force  my  advice  on  pretty  girls  who  do  not  ask  it,  and 
may  one  day  be  better  saints  than  I  am. 

"That  is  the  whole  secret  of  an  interview  with  Mother  Marie 
des  Anges,  who  greets  you  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     4*" 

As  you  may  suppose,  madame,  there  was  no  refusing  so 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR   ARCIS.  239 

gracious  an  invitation,  and  before  long  Mile.  Antonia,  in  the 
soberest  garb  at  her  command,  was  on  her  way  to  the  convent. 
I  much  wish  I  could  give  you  authentic  details  of  the  meeting, 
which  must  have  been  a  curious  one ;  but  nobody  was  present, 
nor  have  I  been  able  to  hear  what  report  of  it  was  given  by 
the  wandering  lamb,  who  came  away  moved  to  tears. 

When  the  journalist  tried  to  make  fun  of  her  converted 
airs — 

"There,  hold  your  tongue  !  "  said  Mile.  Antonia.  "You 
never  in  your  life  wrote  such  a  sentence  !  " 

"What  was  the  sentence,  come?" 

"*Go,  ray  child,'  said  the  good  old  lady,  'the  ways  of 
God  are  beautiful  and  little  known ;  there  is  more  stuff  to 
make  a  saint  of  in  a  Magdalen  than  in  many  a  nun.'  " 

And  I  may  add,  madame,  that  as  sue  repeated  the  words 
the  poor  girl's  voice  broke,  and  she  put  her  handkerchief  to 
her  eyes.  The  journalist — a  disgrace  to  the  press,  one  of 
those  wretches  who  are  no  more  typical  of  the  press  than  a 
bad  priest  is  of  religion — the  journalist  began  to  laugh,  but 
scenting  danger,  he  added:  "And,  pray,  when  do  you  mean 
really  to  go  to  Gondreville  to  speak  to  Keller,  whom  I  shall 
certainly  end  by  kicking — in  a  corner  of  some  article — in 
spite  of  all  Maxime's  instructions  to  the  contrary?" 

"Am  I  going  to  meddle  with  any  such  dirty  tricks?" 
asked  Antonia,  with  dignity. 

"  What?     So  now  you  do  not  mean  to  present  your  bill ! " 

"I!"  replied  the  devotee  of  Mother  Marie  des  Anges, 
probably  echoing  her  sentiments,  but  in  her  own  words.  "/ 
try  to  blackmail  a  family  in  such  grief?  Why,  the  recollection 
of  it  would  stab  me  on  my  death-bed,  and  I  could  never  hope 
that  God  would  have  mercy  upon  me." 

"Well,  then,  become  an  Ursuline  and  have  done  with  it." 

"If  only  I  had  courage  enough,  I  should  perhaps  be  hap- 
pier; but,  at  any  rate,  I  will  not  go  to  Gondreville.  Mother 
Marie  des  Anges  will  settle  everything." 


240  THE   DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"Why,  most  wretched  child,  you  never  left  the  bill  with 
her,  eh?" 

**  I  was  going  to  tear  it  up,  but  she  stopped  me,  and  told 
me  to  give  it  to  her,  and  that  she  would  manage  to  pull  me 
through  by  hook  or  by  crook." 

*'  Oh,  very  well !  You  were  a  creditor — you  will  be  a 
beggar " 

"  No,  for  I  am  giving  alms.  I  told  Madame  the  Abbess  to 
keep  the  money  for  the  poor." 

*'  Oh,  if  you  are  going  to  be  a  benefactress  to  convents 
with  your  other  vice  of  angling,  you  will  be  pleasant  com- 
pany !  " 

"  You  will  not  have  my  company  for  long,  for  I  am  off  this 
evening,  and  leave  you  to  your  dirty  job." 

"  Halloo  !     Going  to  be  a  Carmelite? " 

"Carmelite  is  good,"  retorted  Antonia  sharply;  "very 
good,  old  boy,  when  I  am  leaving  a  Louis  XIV." 

For  even  the  most  ignorant  of  these  girls  all  know  the 
story  of  la  Vallidre,  whom  they  would  certainly  adopt  as 
their  patron  saint,  if  Sainte-Louise  of  mercy  had  ever  been 
canonized. 

Now,  how  Mother  Marie  des  Anges  worked  the  miracle  I 
know  not,  but  the  Comte  de  Gondreville's  carriage  was  stand- 
ing this  morning  at  the  convent  gate ;  the  miracle,  be  it  under- 
stood, consisting  not  in  having  brought  that  old  owl  out,  for 
he  hurried  off,  you  may  be  sure,  as  soon  as  he  heard  of  tea 
thousand  francs  to  be  paid,  though  the  money  was  not  to 
come  out  of  his  purse,  but  Keller's — it  was  the  family's,  and 
such  misers  as  he  have  a  horror  of  other  people  spending  when 
they  do  not  think  the  money  well  laid  out.  But  Mother 
Marie  des  Anges  was  not  content  with  having  got  him  to  the 
convent;  she  did  our  business  too.  On  leaving,  the  peer 
drove  to  see  his  friend  Grevin  ;  and  in  the  course  of  the  day 
the  old  notary  told  a  number  of  persons  that  really  his  son-in- 
law  was  too  stupid  by  half,  that  he  had  got  himself  into  ill 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  241 

odor  through  this  affair  with  the  Parisian  damsel,  and  that 
nothing  could  ever  be  made  of  him. 

Meanwhile,  it  was,  rumored  that  the  priests  of  the  two 
parishes  had  each  received,  by  the  hand  of  Mother  Marie 
des  Anges,  a  sum  of  a  thousand  crowns  for  distribution  among 
the  poor,  given  to  her  by  a  benevolent  person  who  wished  to 
remain  unknown.  Sallenauve  is  furious  because  some  of  our 
agents  are  going  about  saying  that  he  is  the  anonymous  bene- 
factor, and  a  great  many  people  believe  it,  though  the  story 
of  Keller's  bill  has  got  about,  and  it  would  be  easy  to  trace 
this  liberality  to  the  real  donor. 

M.  Maxime  de  Trailles  cannot  get  over  it,  and  there  is 
every  probability  that  the  defeat,  which  he  must  now  see  is 
inevitable,  will  wreck  his  prospects  of  marriage.  All  that  can 
be  said  with  regard  to  his  overthrow  is  what  we  always  say  of 
an  author  who  has  failed — he  is  a  clever  man,  and  will  have 
his  revenge. 

MARIE-GASTON   TO   THE  COMTESSE  DE  l'eSTORADE. 

Arcis-sur-Aube,  Sunday,  May  12,  1839. 

Madame  : — Yesterday  evening  the  preliminary  meeting  was 
held,  a  somewhat  ridiculous  business,  and  uncommonly  dis- 
agreeable for  the  candidates ;  however,  it  had  to  be  faced. 
When  people  are  going  to  pledge  themselves  to  a  representa- 
tive for  four  or  five  years,  it  is  natural  that  they  should  wish 
to  know  something  about  him.  Is  he  intelligent  ?  Does  he 
really  express  the  opinions  of  which  he  carries  the  ticket  ? 
Will  he  be  friendly  and  affable  to  those  persons  who  may  have 
to  commend  their  interests  to  his  care  ?  Has  he  determina- 
tion ?  Will  he  be  able  to  defend  his  ideas — if  he  has  any  ? 
In  a  word,  will  he  represent  them  worthily,  steadily,  and 
truly  ? 

But  every  medal  has  its  reverse  ;  and  on  the  other  side  we 
may  see  the  voter  at  such  meetings  puffed  uj)  with  arrogance, 
16 


242  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

eager  to  display  the  sovereign  authority  which  he  is  about  to 
transfer  to  his  deputy,  selling  it  as  dear  as  he  is  able.  From 
the  impertinence  of  some  of  the  questions  put  to  the  candi- 
date, might  you  not  suppose  that  he  was  a  serf,  over  whom 
each  voter  had  the  power  of  life  and  death?  There  is  not  a 
corner  of  his  private  life  which  the  unhappy  mortal  can  be 
sure  of  hiding  from  prying  curiosity  ;  as  to  merely  stupid 
questions,  anything  is  conceivable — as  "Does  he  prefer  the 
wines  of  Champagne  to  those  of  Bordeaux?  "  At  Bordeaux, 
where  wine  is  the  religion,  such  a  preference  would  prove  a 
lack  of  patriotism,  and  seriously  endanger  his  return.  Many 
voters  attend  solely  to  enjoy  the  confusion  of  the  nominees. 
They  cross-examine  them,  as  they  call  it,  to  amuse  themselves, 
as  children  spin  a  cockchafer ;  or  as  of  yore  old  judges 
watched  the  torture  of  a  criminal,  and  even  nowadays  young 
doctors  enjoy  an  autopsy  or  an  operation.  Many  have  not 
even  so  refined  a  taste ;  they  come  simply  for  the  fun  of  the 
hubbub,  the  confusion  of  voices  which  is  certain  to  arise 
under  such  circumstances ;  or  they  look  forward  to  an  oppor- 
tunity for  displaying  some  pleasing  accomplishment ;  for  in- 
stance, at  the  moment  when — as  the  reports  of  the  sittings  in 
the  Chamber  have  it — the  tumult  is  at  its  height,  it  is  not  un- 
common to  hear  a  miraculously  accurate  imitation  of  the 
crowing  of  a  cock,  or  the  yelping  of  a  dog  when  his  foot  is 
trodden  on.  Intelligence,  which  alone  should  be  allowed  to 
vote,  having,  like  d'Aubigne — Mme.  de  Maintenon's  brother 
— taken  its  promotion  in  cash,  we  cannot  be  surprised  to  find 
stupid  people  among  the  electors,  and  indeed  they  are  numer- 
ous enough  in  this  world  to  have  a  claim  to  be  represented. 

The  meeting  was  held  in  a  good-sized  hall,  where  a  restau- 
rant-keeper gives  a  dance  every  Sunday.  There  is  a  raised 
gallery  for  the  orchestra,  which  was  reserved  as  a  sort  of  plat- 
form, to  which  a  few  non-voters  were  admitted  ;  I  was  one  of 
these  privileged  few.  Some  ladies  occupied  front  seats :  Mme. 
Marion,  the  aunt  of  Giguet  the  advocate,  one  of  the  candi- 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  243 

dates;  Mme.  and  Mile.  Mollot,  the  wife  and  daughter  of  the 
clerk  of  assize ;  and  a  few  others  whose  names  and  position  I 
have  forgotten.  Mine,  and  Mile.  Beauvisage,  like  Brutus  and 
Cassius,  were  conspicuous  by  their  absence. 

Giguet  was  the  first  candidate  to  address  the  meeting,  his 
father,  the  colonel,  being  in  the  chair ;  his  speech  was  long, 
a  medley  of  commonplace  ;  very  few  questions  were  put  to 
him  to  be  recorded  in  this  report.  Every  one  felt  that  the 
real  battle  was  not  to  be  fought  here. 

Then  M,  Beauvisage  was  called  for.  Maitre  Achille  Pigoult 
rose  and  begged  to  be  allowed  to  speak,  and  said — 

*•  M.  le  Maire  has  been  very  unwell  since  yesterday " 

Shouts  and  roars  of  laughter  interrupted  the  speaker. 

Colonel  Giguet  rang  the  bell,  with  which  he  had  been  duly 
provided,  for  a  long  time  before  silence  was  restored.  At  the 
first  lull,  Maitre  Pigoult  tried  again — 

"As  I  had  the  honor  of  saying,  gentlemen,  M.  le  Maire, 
suffering  as  he  is  from  an  attack,  which,  though  not  serious, 
may 


A  fresh  outbreak,  more  noisy  than  the  first.  Like  all  old 
soldiers,  Colonel  Giguet's  temper  is  neither  very  long-suffering 
nor  altogether  parliamentary.  He  started  to  his  feet,  exclaim- 
ing— 

"Gentlemen,  this  is  not  one  of  Frappart's  balls"  (the 
name  of  the  owner  of  the  room)  ;  "  I  must  beg  you  to  behave 
with  greater  decency^  otherwise  I  shall  resign  the  chair." 

It  is  supposed  that  a  body  of  men  prefer  to  be  rough-ridden, 
for  this  exhortation  was  received  with  applause,  and  silence 
seemed  fairly  well  restored. 

"As  I  was  saying,  to  my  regret,"  Maitre  Achille  began 
once  more,  varying  his  phrase  each  time,  "  having  a  tiresome 
indisposition  which,  though  not  serious,  will  confine  him  to 
his  room  for  some  days " 

"Loss  of  voice  !  "  said  somebody. 

"Our  excellent   and   respected   mayor,"    Achille   Pigoult 


244  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

went  on,  heedless  of  the  interruption,  "could  not  have  the 
pleasure  of  attending  this  meeting.  However,  Madame  Beau- 
visage,  whom  I  had  the  honor  of  seeing  but  just  now,  told  me, 
and  commissioned  me  to  tell  you,  that  for  the  present  M. 
Beauvisage  foregoes  the  honor  of  claiming  your  suffrages,  beg- 
ging such  gentlemen  as  had  expressed  their  interest  in  his 
election  to  transfer  their  votes  to  M.  Simon  Giguet." 

This  Achille  Pigoult  is  a  very  shrewd  individual,  who  had 
very  skillfully  brought  about  the  intervention  cf  Mrae.  Beau- 
visage,  thus  emphasizing  her  conjugal  supremacy.  The  as- 
sembly were,  however,  too  thoroughly  provincial  to  appreciate 
this  dirty  little  trick.  In  the  country  women  are  constantly 
mixed  up  with  their  husbands'  concerns,  even  the  most  mas- 
culine; and  the  old  story  of  the  priest's  housekeeper,  who 
replied  quite  seriously:  "We  cannot  say  mass  so  cheap  as 
that,"  has  to  us  a  spice  of  the  absurd  which  in  many  small 
towns  would  not  be  recognized. 

Finally,  Sallenauve  rose,  and  after  briefly  enumerating  the 
facts  which  tie  him  to  the  district,  and  alluding  with  skill  and 
dignity  to  his  birth,  as  "  not  being  the  same  as  most  people's," 
monsieur  set  forth  his  political  views.  He  esteems  a  republic 
as  the  best  form  of  government,  but  believes  it  impossible  to 
maintain  in  France;  hence  he  cannot  wish  for  it.  He  believes 
that  really  representative  government,  with  the  politics  of  the 
camarilla  so  firmly  muzzled  that  there  is  nothing  to  be  feared 
from  its  constant  outbreaks  and  incessant  schemes,  may  tend 
largely  to  the  dignity  and  prosperity  of  a  nation.  Liberty 
and  Equality,  the  two  great  principles  which  triumphed  in 
'89,  have  the  soundest  guarantees  from  that  form  of  govern- 
ment. As  to  the  possible  trickery  that  kingly  power  may 
bring  to  bear  against  them,  institutions  cannot  prevent  it. 
Men  and  the  moral  sense,  rather  than  the  laws,  mu^t  be  on 
the  alert  in  such  a  case ;  and  he,  Sallenauve,  will  always  be 
one  of  these  living  obstacles.  He  expressed  himself  as  an 
ardent  supporter  of  freedom  in  teaching,  said  that  in  his  opin- 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  245 

ion  further  economy  might  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  budget, 
that  there  were  too  many  paid  officials  in  the  Chamber,  and 
that  the  Court  especially  was  too  strongly  represented.  The 
electors  who  should  vote  for  him  were  not  to  expect  that  he 
would  ever  take  any  step  in  their  behalf  which  was  not  based 
on  reason  and  justice.  It  had  been  said  that  the  word  "  im- 
possible "  was  not  French.  Yet  there  was  one  impossibility 
that  he  recognized,  and  by  which  he  should  always  feel  it  an 
honor  to  be  beaten,  namely,  any  infringement  of  justice  or 
the  least  attempt  to  defeat  the  right.     (Loud  applause.) 

Silence  being  restored,  one  of  the  electors  spoke — 

"Monsieur,"  said  he,  after  due  license  from  the  chairman, 
**  you  have  said  that  you  will  accept  no  office  from  the  Govern- 
ment. Is  not  that  by  implication  casting  a  slur  on  those  who 
are  in  office?  My  name  is  God i vet ;  I  am  the  town  registrar; 
I  do  not  therefore  conceive  myself  open  to  the  scorn  of  my 
respected  fellow-citizens." 

Said  Sallenauve — 

"  I  am  delighted,  monsieur,  to  hear  that  the  Government 
has  conferred  on  you  functions  which  you  fulfill,  I  am  sure, 
with  perfect  rectitude  and  ability.  But  may  I  inquire  whether 
you  were  from  the  first  at  the  head  of  the  office  you  manage  ?  " 

"  Certainly  not,  monsieur.  I  was  for  three  years  super- 
numerary ;  I  then  rose  through  the  various  grades ;  and  I  may 
honestly  say  that  my  modest  promotion  was  never  due  to 
favor." 

**  Well,  then,  monsieur,  what  would  you  say  if  I,  with  my 
title  as  deputy — supposing  me  to  secure  the  suffrages  of  the 
voters  in  this  district — I,  who  have  never  been  a  super- 
numerary, and  have  passed  no  grade,  who  should  have  done 
the  Ministry  no  service  but  that  of  voting  on  its  side — if  I 
were  suddenly  appointed  to  be  director-general  of  your 
department — and  such  things  have  been  seen?  " 

"  I  should  say — I  should  say,  monsieur,  that  the  choice  was 
a  good  one,  since  the  King  would  have  made  it." 


246  THE   DEPUTY  FOR  AKCIS. 

"  No,  monsieur,  you  would  not  say  so ;  or  if  you  said  it 
aloud,  which  I  cannot  believe  possible,  you  would  think  to 
yourself  that  such  an  appointment  was  ridiculous  and  unjust. 
*  Where  the  deuce  did  the  man  learn  the  difficult  business  of 
an  office  when  he  has  been  a  sculptor  all  his  life  ? '  you  would 
ask.  And  you  would  be  right  not  to  approve  of  the  royal 
caprice ;  for  acquired  rights,  long  and  honorable  service,  and 
the  regular  progression  of  advancement  would  be  nullified  by 
this  system  of  selection  by  the  sovereign's  pleasure.  And  it 
is  to  show  that  I  disapprove  of  the  crying  abuse  I  am  de- 
nouncing; it  is  because  I  do  not  think  it  just,  or  right,  or 
advantageous  that  a  man  should  be  thus  raised  over  other 
men's  heads  to  the  highest  post  in  the  public  service,  that  I 
pledge  myself  to  accept  no  promotion.  And  do  you  still 
think,  monsieur,  that  I  am  contemning  such  functions  ?  Do 
I  not  rather  treat  them  with  the  greatest  respect?" 

M.  Godivet  expressed  himself  satisfied. 

"But  look  here,  sir,"  cried  another  elector,  after  request- 
ing leave  in  a  somewhat  vinous  voice,  "you  say  you  will 
never  ask  for  anything  for  your  electors ;  then  what  good  will 
you  be  to  us?" 

**  I  never  said,  my  good  friend,  that  I  would  ask  for  nothing 
for  my  constituents;  I  said  I  would  ask  for  nothing  but  what 
was  just.  That,  I  may  say,  I  will  demand  with  determination 
and  perseverance,  for  justice  ought  always  to  be  thus  served." 

"  Not  but  what  there  are  other  ways  of  serving  it,"  the  man 
went  on.  "  For  instance,  there  was  that  lawsuit  what  they 
made  me  lose  against  Jean  Remy — we  had  had  words,  you 
see,  about  a  landmark " 

"Well,"  said  Colonel  Giguet,  interposing,  "you  are  not, 
I  suppose,  going  to  tell  us  the  history  of  your  lawsuit  and 
speak  disrespectfully  of  the  magistrates?" 

"  The  magistrates,  colonel  ?  I  respect  them,  which  I  was 
a  member  of  the  municipality  for  six  weeks  in  '93,  and  I 
know  the  law.     But  to  come  back  to  my  point.     I  want  to 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  ^7 

ask  the  gentleman,  who  is  here  to  answer  me  just  as  much  as 
the  others,  what  is  his  opinion  of  the  licensed  tobacco  jobs." 

"  My  opinion  of -tobacco  licenses?  That  would  be  a  little 
difficult  to  state  briefly.  However,  I  may  go  so  far  as  to  say 
that,  if  I  am  correctly  informed,  they  do  not  seem  to  me  to 
be  always  judiciously  granted." 

**  Well  done  you  !  You  are  a  man  !  "  cried  the  voter, 
'*and  I  shall  vote  for  you,  for  they  won't  make  a  fool  of  you 
in  a  hurry.  I  believe  you;  the  tobacco  licenses  are  given 
away  anyhow.  Why,  there  is  Jean  Remy's  girl — a  bad  neigh- 
bor he  was ;  he  has  never  been  a  yard  away  from  his  plough 
tail,  and  he  fights  with  his  wife  every  day  of  the  week,  and 
beside " 

"But,  my  good  fellow,"  said  the  chairman,  interrupting 
him,  "you  are  really  encroaching  on  these  gentlemen's  pa- 
tience  " 

"  No,  no  ;  let  him  speak  !  "  was  shouted  on  all  sides. 

The  man  amused  them,  and  Sallenauve  gave  the  colonel  to 
understand  that  he  too  would  like  to  know  what  the  fellow 
was  coming  to.     So  the  elector  went  on — 

**  Then  what  I  say  is  this,  saving  your  presence,  my  dear 
colonel,  there  was  that  girl  of  Jean  Remy's — and  I  will  never 
give  him  any  peace,  not  even  in  hell,  for  my  landmark  was  in 
its  right  place  and  your  experts  were  all  wrong — well,  what 
does  the  girl  do  ?  There  she  leaves  her  father  and  mother, 
and  off  she  goes  to  Paris :  what  is  she  up  to  in  Paris?  Well, 
I  didn't  go  to  see;  but  if  she  doesn't  scrape  acquaintance 
with  a  member  of  the  Chamber,  and  at  this  day  she  has  a 
licensed  tobacco  store  in  the  Rue  Mouflfetard,  one  of  the 
longest  streets  in  Paris ;  whereas,  if  I  should  kick  the  bucket 
to-day  or  to-morrow,  there  is  my  wife,  the  widow  of  a  hard- 
working man,  crippled  with  rheumatism  all  along  of  sleeping 
in  the  woods  during  the  terror  of  1815 — and  where's  the 
tobacco  license  she  would  get,  I  should  like  to  know  !  " 

"But  you  are  not  dead  yet,"  said  one  and  another  in  reply 


248  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

to  this  wonderful  record  of  service.  And  the  colonel,  to  put 
an  end  to  this  burlesque  scene,  gave  the  next  turn  to  a  little 
pastrycook,  a  well-known  Republican. 

The  new  speaker  asked  Sallenauve  in  a  high  falsetto  voice 
this  insidious  question,  which  at  Arcis  indeed  may  be  called 
national. 

"  What,  sir,  is  your  opinion  of  Danton  ?  " 

"Monsieur  Dauphin,"  said  the  president,  "I  must  be 
allowed  to  point  out  to  you  that  Danton  is  now  a  part  of 
history." 

**  The  Pantheon  of  History,  Monsieur  le  President,  is  the 
proper  term." 

"  Well,  well ! — History,  or  the  Pantheon  of  History — 
Danton  seems  to  me  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  matter 
in  hand." 

"Allow  me,  Mr.  President,"  said  Sallenauve.  "Though 
the  question  has  apparently  no  direct  bearing  on  the  objects 
of  this  meeting,  still,  in  a  town  which  still  rings  with  the 
fame  of  that  illustrious  name,  I  cannot  shirk  the  opportunity 
offered  me  for  giving  a  proof  of  my  impartiality  and  inde- 
pendence by  pronouncing  on  that  great  but  unhappy  man's 
memory." 

"  Yes,  yes !  hear,  hear  !  "  cried  the  audience,  almost  unani- 
mously. 

"I  am  firmly  convinced,"  Sallenauve  went  on,  "that  if 
Danton  had  lived  in  times  as  calm  and  peaceful  as  ours,  he 
would  have  been — as  indeed  he  was — a  good  husband,  a  good 
father,  a  warm  and  faithful  friend,  an  attaching  and  amiable 
character,  and  that  his  remarkable  talents  would  have  raised 
him  to  an  eminent  position  in  the  State  and  in  society." 

"Hear,  hear!  bravo!  capital!" 

"Born,  on  the  contrary,  at  a  period  of  great  troubles,  in 
the  midst  of  a  storm  of  unchained  and  furious  passions,  Dan- 
ton, of  all  men,  was  the  one  to  blaze  up  in  this  atmosphere  of 
flame.     Danton  was  a  burning  torch,  and  his  crimson  glow 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  AKCIS.  249 

was  only  too  apt  for  such  scenes  of  blood  and  horror  as  I  will 
not  now  remind  you  of. 

"  But,  it  has  be^n  said,  the  independence  of  the  nation  had 
to  be  saved  ;  traitors  and  sneaks  had  to  be  punished  ;  in  short, 
a  sacrifice  had  to  be  consummated,  terrible  but  necessary  for 
the  requirements  of  public  safety.  Gentlemen,  I  do  not  ac- 
cept this  view  of  the  matter.  To  kill  wholesale,  and,  as  has 
been  proved  twenty  times  over,  without  any  necessity — to  kill 
unarmed  men,  women,  and  prisoners  is  under  any  hypothesis 
an  atrocious  crime ;  those  who  ordered  it,  those  who  allowed 
it,  those  who  did  the  deed  are  to  me  included  in  one  and  the 
same  condemnation  ! 

"Still,"  he  went  on,  "there  are  two  possible  sequels  to  a 
crime  committed  and  irreparable — repentance  and  expiation. 
Danton  expressed  his  repentance  not  in  words,  he  was  too 
proud  for  that — he  did  better,  he  acted  ;  and  at  the  sound  of 
the  knife  of  the  head-cutting  machine,  which  was  working 
without  pause  or  respite,  at  the  risk  of  hastening  his  turn  to 
lose  his  own,  he  ventured  to  move  for  a  Committee  of  Clem- 
ency. It  was  an  almost  infallible  way  of  inviting  expiation, 
and  when  the  day  of  expiation  came  we  all  know  that  he  did 
not  shrink !  By  meeting  his  death  as  a  reward  for  his  brave 
attempt  to  stay  the  tide  of  bloodshed,  it  may  be  said,  gentle- 
men, that  Danton's  figure  and  memory  are  purged  of  the 
crimson  stain  that  the  terrible  September  had  left  upon  them. 
Cut  off  at  the  age  thirty-five,  flung  to  posterity,  Danton  dwells 
in  our  memory  as  a  man  of  powerful  intellect,  of  fine  private 
virtues,  and  of  more  than  one  generous  action — these,  then, 
were  himself;  his  frenzied  crimes  were  but  from  the  contagion 
of  the  age. 

"  In  short,  in  speaking  of  such  a  man  as  he  was,  the  justice 
is  most  unjust  which  is  not  tempered  with  large  allowances — 
and,  gentlemen,  there  is  a  woman  who  understood  and  pro- 
nounced on  Danton  better  than  you  or  I,  better  than  any 
orator  or  historian — the  woman  who,  in  a  sublime  spirit  of 


250  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

charity,  said  to  the  relentless,  '  He  is  with  God  !  Let  us  pray 
for  the  peace  of  his  soul !  '  " 

The  snare  thus  avoided  by  this  judicious  allusion  to  Mother 
Marie  des  Anges,  the  meeting  seemed  satisfied,  and  we  might 
fancy  that  the  candidate  was  at  the  end  of  his  examination. 
The  colonel  was  preparing  to  call  for  a  show  of  hands  when 
several  voters  demurred,  saying  that  there  were  still  two  mat- 
ters requiring  explanation  by  the  nominee — Sallenauve  had 
said  that  he  would  always  stand  in  the  way  of  any  trickery 
attempted  by  the  sovereign  authority  against  national  institu- 
tions. What  were  they  to  understand  by  resistance ;  did  he 
mean  armed  resistance,  riots,  barricades? 

"Barricades,"  said  Sallpnauve,  "have  always  seemed  to 
me  to  be  machines  which  turn  and  crush  those  who  erected 
them  ;  nay,  we  are  bound  to  believe  that  it  is  in  the  nature  of 
a  rebellion  to  serve,  ultimately,  the  purpose  of  the  Govern- 
ment, since  on  every  occasion  the  police  is  presently  accused 
of  beginning  it.  The  resistance  I  shall  offer  will  always  be 
legal,  and  carried  on  by  lawful  means — the  press,  speeches  in 
the  Chamber,  and  patience — the  real  strength  of  the  oppressed 
and  vanquished." 

If  you  knew  Latin,  madame,  I  would  say:  ^'In  cauda  vene- 
num,"  that  is  to  say,  that  the  serpent's  poison  is  in  its  tail — 
a  statement  of  the  ancients  which  modern  science  has  failed 
to  confirm. 

M.  de  I'Estorade  was  not  mistaken:  Sallenauve's  private 
life  was  made  a  matter  of  prying  inquiry;  and,  under  the 
inspiration,  no  doubt,  of  Maxime,  the  virtuous  Maxime,  who 
had  flung  out  several  hints  through  the  journalist  intrusted 
with  his  noble  plot,  our  friend  was  at  last  questioned  as  to  the 
handsome  Italian  he  keeps  "hidden"  in  his  house  in  Paris. 
When  a  body  of  men  are  assembled  together,  madame,  as  your 
husband  may  have  told  you,  they  are  like  grown-up  children, 
who  are  only  too  glad  to  hear  a  long  story 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  251 

SALLENAUVE   TO    MADAME   DE   l'ESTORADE. 

*■  .  Seven  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

Madame: — The  rather  abrupt  manner  of  my  leave-taking 
when  I  bade  you  and  M.  de  TEstorade  farewell,  that  night 
after  our  excursion  to  the  College  Henri  IV.,  is  by  now  quite 
accounted  for,  no  doubt,  by  the  anxieties  of  every  kind  that 
were  agitating  me;  Marie-Gaston,  I  know,  has  told  you  the 
result.  I  must  own  that  in  the  state  of  uneasy  excitement  in 
which  I  then  was,  the  belief  which  M.  de  I'Estorade  seemed 
inclined  to  give  to  the  scandal  he  spoke  of  caused  me  both 
pain  and  surprise.  "What,"  thought  I  to  myself,  "is  it 
possible  that  a  man  of  so  much  moral  and  commonsense  as 
M.  de  I'Estorade  can  a  priori  suppose  me  capable  of  loose 
conduct,  when  on  all  points  he  sees  me  anxious  to  give  my 
life  such  gravity  and  respectability  as  may  command  esteem  ? 
And  if  he  has  such  an  opinion  of  my  libertine  habits,  it  would 
be  so  amazingly  rash  to  admit  me  on  a  footing  of  intimacy  in 
his  house  with  his  wife,  that  his  present  politeness  must  be 
essentially  temporary  and  precarious." 

As  to  M.  de  I'Estorade,  I  was,  I  confess,  nettled  with  him, 
finding  him  so  recklessly  ready  to  echo  a  calumny  against 
which  I  thought  he  might  have  defended  me,  considering  the 
nature  of  the  acquaintance  we  had  formed,  so  to  him  I  would 
not  condescend  to  explain :  this  I  now  withdraw,  but  at  the 
time  it  was  the  true  expression  of  very  keen  annoyance. 

The  chances  of  an  election  contest  have  necessitated  my 
giving  the  explanation,  in  the  first  instance,  to  a  public  meet- 
ing, and  I  have  been  so  happy  as  to  find  that  men  in  a  mass 
are  more  capable  perhaps  than  singly  of  appreciating  a  gen- 
erous impulse  and  the  genuine  ring  of  truth.  I  was  called 
upon,  madame,  under  circumstances  so  unforeseen  and  so 
strange  as  to  trench  very  nearly  on  the  ridiculous,  to  make  a 
statement  of  almost  incredible  facts  to  an  audience  of  a  very 
mixed  character. 


252  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

This  is  my  story,  very  much  as  I  told  it  to  my  constituents 
at  their  requisition — 

Some  months  before  I  left  Rome,  we  received  a  visit 
almost  every  evening  in  the  cafe  where  the  Academy  pupils 
are  wont  to  meet  from  an  Italian  named  Benedetto.  He 
called  himself  a  musician,  and  was  not  at  all  a  bad  one ;  but 
we  were  warned  that  he  was  also  a  spy  in  the  employment  of 
the  Roman  police,  which  accounted  for  his  constant  regularity 
and  his  predilection  for  our  company.  At  any  rate,  he  was  a 
very  amusing  buffoon  ;  and  as  we  cared  not  a  straw  for  the 
Roman  police,  we  were  more  than  tolerant  of  the  fellow ;  we 
tempted  him  to  frequent  the  place — a  matter  of  no  great 
difficulty,  since  he  had  a  passion  for  zabajon,  poncio  spongato, 
and  spuma  di  latte. 

One  evening  as  he  came  in,  he  was  asked  by  one  of  our 
party  who  the  woman  was  with  whom  he  had  been  seen  walk- 
ing that  morning. 

**  My  wife,  signor  !  "  said  the  Italian,  swelling  with  pride. 

"  Yours,  Benedetto  ?    You  the  husband  of  such  a  beauty  ?  " 

"  Certainly,  by  your  leave,  signor." 

"What  next  !  You  are  stumpy,  ugly,  a  toper.  And  it  is 
said  that  you  are  a  police  agent  into  the  bargain  ;  she,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  as  handsome  as  the  huntress  Diana." 

"I  charmed  her  by  my  musical  gifts;  she  dies  of  love  for 
me. 

"Well,  then,  if  she  is  your  wife,  you  ought  to  let  her  pose 
for  our  friend  Dorlange,  who  at  this  moment  is  meditating  a 
statue  of  Pandora.     He  will  never  find  such  another  model." 

"  That  may  be  managed,"  replied  the  Italian. 

And  he  went  off  into  the  most  amusing  tomfoolery,  which 
made  us  all  forget  the  suggestion  that  had  been  made. 

I  was  in  my  studio  next  morning,  and  with  me  certain 
painters  and  sculptors,  my  fellow-pupils,  when  Benedetto 
came  in,  and  with  him  a  remarkably  beautiful  woman.  I 
need  not  describe  her  to  you,  madame  ;  you  have  seen  her. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  253 

A  cheer  of  delight  hailed  the  Italian,  who  said,  addressing 
me: 

"  Ecco  la  Pandora  !^     Well,  what  do  you  think  of  her  ?  " 

"  She  is  beautiful ;  but  will  she  sit  ?  " 

"Pooh!  "  was  Benedetto's  reply,  as  much  as  to  say,  "I 
should  like  to  see  her  refuse." 

"But,"  said  I,  "so  perfect  a  model  will  want  high  pay." 

"No,  the  honor  is  enough.  But  you  will  make  a  bust  of 
me — a  terra-cotta  head — and  make  her  a  present  of  it." 

"  Well,  then,  gentlemen,"  said  I  to  the  others,  "  you  will 
have  the  goodness  to  leave  us  to  ourselves." 

No  one  heeded ;  judging  of  the  wife  by  the  husband,  all 
the  young  scapegraces  crowded  rudely  round  the  woman, 
who,  blushing,  agitated,  and  scared  by  all  these  eyes,  looked 
rather  like  a  caged  panther  baited  by  peasants  at  a  fair.  Bene- 
detto went  up  and  took  her  aside  to  explain  to  her  in  Italian 
that  the  French  signor  wanted  to  take  her  likeness  at  full 
length,  and  that  she  must  dispense  with  her  garments.  She 
gave  him  one  fulminating  look  and  made  for  the  door.  Bene- 
detto rushed  forward  to  stop  her,  while  my  companions — the 
virtuous  brood  of  the  studio — barred  the  way. 

A  struggle  began  between  the  husband  and  wife ;  but  as  I 
saw  that  Benedetto  was  defending  his  side  of  the  argument 
with  the  greatest  brutality,  I  flew  into  a  passion  ;  with  one 
arm,  for  I  am  luckily  pretty  strong,  I  pushed  the  wretch  off, 
and  turning  to  the  youths  with  a  determined  air — "Come," 
said  I,  "let  her  pass!  "  I  escorted  the  woman,  still  quiver- 
ing with  anger,  to  the  door.  She  thanked  me  briefly  in 
Italian,  and  vanished  without  further  hindrance. 

On  returning  to  Benedetto,  who  was  gesticulating  threats, 
I  told  him  to  go,  that  his  conduct  was  infamous,  and  that  if  I 
should  hear  that  he  had  ill-treated  his  wife,  he  would  have  an 
account  to  settle  with  me. 

"  Dehole  r''  (idiot !)  said  the  wretch  with  a  shrug. 
*  Behold  your  Pandora, 


254  THE    DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

But  he  went,  followed,  as  he  had  been  welcomed,  by  a 
cheer. 

Some  days  elapsed.  We  saw  no  more  of  Benedetto,  and  at 
first  were  rather  uneasy.  Some  of  us  even  tried  to  find  him 
in  the  Trastevere  suburb,  where  he  was  known  to  live ;  but 
research  in  that  district  is  not  easy ;  the  French  students  are 
in  ill-odor  with  the  Trasteverini,  who  always  suspect  them  of 
schemes  to  seduce  their  wives  and  daughters,  and  the  men  are 
always  ready  with  the  knife. 

By  the  end  of  the  week  no  one,  as  you  may  suppose,  ever 
thought  of  the  buffoon  again. 

Three  days  before  I  left  Rome  his  wife  came  into  my  studio. 
She  could  speak  a  little  bad  French. 

*'  You  go  to  Paris,"  said  she.     "  I  come  to  go  with  you." 

"  Go  with  me  ?     And  your  husband?  " 

"  Dead,"  said  she  calmly. 

An  idea  flashed  through  my  brain. 

"And  you  killed  him?"  said  I  to  the  Trasteverina.  She 
nodded — 

"  But  I  try  to  killed  me  too." 

"How?"  asked  I. 

"After  he  had  so  insult  me,"  said  she,  "he  came  to  our 
house,  he  beat  me  like  always,  and  then  went  out  all  day. 
The  night  he  came  back  and  showed  me  a  pistol-gun.  I 
snatch  it  away  ;  he  is  drunk  ;  I  throw  that  briccone  (wretch)  on 
bed  ;  and  he  go  to  sleep.  Then  I  stuff  up  the  door  and  the 
window,  and  I  put  much  charcoal  on  a  brasero,  and  I  light  it ; 
and  I  have  a  great  headache,  and  then  I  know  nothing  till  the 
next  day.  The  neighbors  have  smell  the  charcoal,  and  have 
make  me  alive  again — but  he — he  is  dead  before." 

"And  the  police?" 

"  The  police  know ;  and  that  he  had  want  to  sell  me  to  an 
English.  For  that  he  had  want  to  make  me  vile  to  you,  then 
I  would  not  want  to  resist.  The  judge  he  tell  me  go — quite 
right.     So  I  have  confess,  and  have  absolution." 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  255 

**  But,  cara  mia,  what  can  you  do  in  France  ?  I  am  not 
rich  as  the  English  are." 

A  scornful  smile  |)assed  over  her  beautiful  face. 

"I  shall  cost  you  nothing,"  said  she.  "On  the  contrary, 
I  shall  save  much  money." 

"How?"  said  I. 

"I  will  be  the  model  for  your  statues;  yes,  I  am  willing. 
Benedetto  used  to  say  I  was  very  well  made  and  a  very  good 
house-wife.  If  Benedetto  would  have  agreed,  we  could  have 
lived  happily, /if rr/i<f  I  have  a  talent  too." 

And  taking  down  a  guitar  that  hung  in  a  corner  of  my 
studio,  she  sang  a  bravura  air,  accompanying  herself  with  im- 
mense energy. 

"  In  France,"  she  said  when  it  was  finished,  "  I  shall  have 
lessons  and  go  on  the  stage,  where  I  shall  succeed — that  was 
Benedetto's  plan." 

"But  why  not  go  on  the  stage  in  Italy?" 

"Since  Benedetto  died,  I  am  in  hiding;  the  Englishman 
wants  to  carry  me  off.  I  mean  to  go  to  France ;  as  you  see,  I 
have  been  learning  French.  If  I  stay  here,  it  will  be  in  the 
Tiber." 

M.  de  I'Estorade  will  admit  that  by  abandoning  such  a 
character  to  its  own  devices,  I  might  fear  to  be  the  cause  of 
some  disaster,  so  I  consented  to  allow  Signora  Luigia  to 
accompany  me  to  Paris.  I  gave  my  housekeeper  a  singing 
master,  and  she  is  now  ready  to  appear  in  public. 

In  spite  of  her  dreams  of  the  stage,  she  is  pious,  as  all 
Italian  women  are;  she  has  joined  the  fraternity  of  the  Virgin 
at  Saint-Sulpice,  my  parish  church,  and  during  the  month  of 
Mary,  now  a  few  days  old,  the  good  woman  who  lets  chairs 
counts  on  a  rich  harvest  from  her  fine  singing.  She  attends 
every  service,  confesses  and  communicates  frequently  ;  and 
her  director,  a  highly  respectable  old  priest,  came  to  me  lately 
to  beg  that  she  might  no  longer  serve  as  the  model  for  my 
statues,  saying  that  she  would  never  listen  to  his  injunctions 


256  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

on  the  subject,  fancying  her  honor  pledged  to  me.  I  yielded, 
of  course,  to  his  representations,  all  the  more  readily  because 
in  the  event  of  my  being  elected,  as  seems  extremely  probable, 
I  intend  to  part  with  this  woman.  In  the  more  conspicuous 
position  which  I  shall  then  fill,  she  would  be  the  object  of 
comments  not  less  fatal  to  her  reputation  and  prospects  than 
to  my  personal  dignity. 

I  have  spoken  with  Marie-Gaston  of  the  difficulty  I  antici- 
pate in  the  way  of  this  separation.  He  fears  it,  he  says,  even 
more  than  I.  Hitherto,  to  this  poor  soul,  Paris  has  been  my 
house,  and  the  mere  idea  of  being  cast  alone  into  the  whirl- 
pool which  she  has  never  even  seen,  is  enough  to  terrify  her. 
One  thing  struck  Marie-Gaston  in  this  connection.  He  does 
not  think  that  the  intervention  of  the  confessor  can  be  of  any 
use ;  the  girl,  he  says,  would  rebel  against  the  sacrifice  if  she 
thought  it  was  imposed  on  her  by  rigorous  devotion. 

Marie-Gaston  is  of  opinion  that  the  intervention  and  coun- 
sels of  a  person  of  her  own  sex,  with  a  high  reputation  for 
virtue  and  enlightenment,  might  in  such  a  case  be  more  effica- 
cious, and  he  declares  that  I  know  a  person  answering  to  this 
description,  who,  at  our  joint  entreaty,  would  consent  to  under- 
take this  delicate  negotiation.  But,  madame,  I  ask  you  what 
apparent  chance  is  there  that  this  notion  should  be  realized  ? 
The  lady  to  whom  Marie-Gaston  alludes  is  to  me  an  acquaint- 
ance of  yesterday ;  and  one  would  hardly  undertake  such  a 
task  even  for  an  old  friend.  I  know  you  did  me  the  honor 
to  say  some  little  while  since  that  some  acquaintanceships 
ripen  fast.  And  Marie-Gaston  added  that  the  lady  in  question 
was  perfectly  pious,  perfectly  kind,  perfectly  charitable,  and 
that  the  idea  of  being  the  patron  saint  of  a  poor  deserted 
creature  might  have  some  attractions  for  her.  In  short, 
madame,  on  our  return  we  propose  to  consult  you,  and  you 
will  tell  us  whether  it  may  be  possible  to  ask  for  such  valuable 
assistance. 

By  this  time  to-morrow,  madame,  I  shall  have  met  with  a 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  257 

repulse  which  will  send  me  back,  once  for  all,  to  my  work  as 
an  artist,  or  I  shall  have  my  foot  set  on  a  new  path.  Need  I 
tell  you  that  I  am  anxious  at  the  thought  ?  The  effect  of  the 
unknown,  no  doubt. 

I  had  almost  forgotten  to  tell  you  a  great  piece  of  news 
which  will  be  a  protection  to  you  against  the  ricochet  of  cer- 
tain projectiles.  I  confided  to  Mother  Marie  des  Anges — of 
whom  Marie-Gaston  had  told  you  wonders — all  my  suspicions 
as  to  some  violence  having  been  used  toward  Mile.  Lanty, 
and  she  is  sure  that  in  the  course  of  no  very  long  time  she 
can  discover  the  convent  where  Marianina  is  probably  de- 
tained. 

MARIE-GASTON   TO  THE  COMTESSE   DE   l'eSTORADE. 

Arcis-sur-Aube,  May  13,  1839. 

We  have  had  a  narrow  escape,  madame,  while  sleeping. 
And  those  blundering  rioters,  of  whose  extraordinary  out- 
break we  have  news  to-day  by  telegraph,  for  a  moment  im- 
periled our  success.  No  sooner  was  the  news  of  the  rising  in 
Paris  yesterday  known,  through  the  bills  posted  by  order  of 
the  sub-prefect,  than  it  was  cleverly  turned  to  account  by  the 
ministerial  party. 

**  Elect  a  democrat  if  you  will  !  "  they  cried  on  all  sides, 
**that  his  speeches  may  make  the  cartridges  for  insurgent 
muskets  ! ' ' 

This  argument  threw  our  phalanx  into  disorder  and  doubt. 
Fortunately,  as  you  may  remember,  a  question — not  appar- 
ently so  directly  to  the  point — had  been  put  to  Sallenauve  at 
the  preliminary  meeting,  and  there  was  something  prophetic 
in  his  reply. 

Jacques  Bricheteau  had  the  happy  thought  of  getting  a  little 
handbill  printed  and  widely  distributed  forthwith : 


17 


258  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"A  RIOT  WITH   HARD    FIGHTING   TOOK  PLACE  YESTERDAY 
IN   PARIS. 

"  Questioned  as  to  such  criminal  and  desperate  methods  of 
opposition,  one  of  our  candidates,  M,  de  Sallenauve,  at  the 
very  hour  when  those  shots  were  being  fired,  was  using  these 
very  words  " — followed  by  some  of  Sallenauve's  speech,  which 
I  reported  to  you.     Then  came,  in  large  letters : 

"THE    RIOT    WAS    SUPPRESSED;    WHO   WILL   BENEFIT   BY   IT?" 

This  little  bill  did  wonders,  and  balked  M.  de  Trailles' 
supreme  effort,  though,  throwing  aside  his  incognito,  he  spent 
the  day  speechifying  in  white  gloves  in  the  market-place  and 
at  the  door  of  the  polling-room. 

This  evening  the  result  is  known  :     Number  of  voters,  201. 

Beauvisage         ....  2 

Simon  Giguet    ....         29 
Sallenauve         .         .         .         .170 

Consequently  M.  Charles  de  Sallenauve  is  elected 

DEPUTY    FOR  ARaS. 


^    PART  III. 


THE  COMTE   DE   SALLENAUVE. 


On  the  evening  of  the  day  following  the  election  that  had 
ended  so  disastrously  for  his  vanity,  Maxime  de  Trailles  re- 
turned to  Paris. 

On  seeing  him  make  a  hasty  toilet  and  order  his  carriage  as 
soon  as  he  reached  home,  it  might  have  been  supposed  that 
he  was  going  to  call  on  the  Comte  de  Rastignac,  minister  of 
Public  Works,  to  give  an  account  of  his  mission  and  explain 
its  failure ;  but  a  more  pressing  interest  seemed  to  claim  his 
attention. 

"To  Colonel  Franchessini's,"  said  he  to  the  coachman. 

When  he  reached  the  gate  of  one  of  the  prettiest  houses  in 
the  Breda  quarter,  the  concierge,  to  whom  he  nodded,  gave 
M.  de  Trailles  the  significant  glance  which  conveyed  that 
"monsieur  was  within."  And  at  the  same  moment  the  por- 
ter's bell  announced  his  arrival  to  the  manservant  who  opened 
the  hall  door. 

"  Is  the  colonel  visible  ?  "  said  he, 

"  He  has  just  gone  in  to  speak  to  madame.  Shall  I  tell 
him  you  are  here,  Monsieur  le  Comte  ?  " 

*'  No,  you  need  not  do  that.     I  will  wait  in  his  study." 

And,  without  requiring  the  man  to  lead  the  way,  he  went 
on,  as  one  familiar  with  the  house,  into  a  large  room  with 
two  windows  opening  on  a  level  with  the  garden.  This  study, 
like  the  Bologna  lute  included  in  the  "  Avare's"  famous  in- 
ventory, was  "fitted  with  all  its  strings,  or  nearly  all;"  in 
other  words,  all  the  articles  of  furniture  which  justified  its 
designation,  such  as  a  writing-table,  bookcases,  maps,  and 
globes,  were  there,  supplemented  by  other  and  very  hand- 
some furniture ;   but  the  colonel,  an  ardent  sportsman,  and 

(259) 


260  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

one  of  the  most  energetic  members  of  the  Jockey  Club,  had 
by  degrees  allowed  this  sanctuary  of  learning  and  science  to 
be  invaded  by  the  appurtenances  of  the  smoking-room,  the 
fencing-school,  and  the  harness-room.  Pipes  and  weapons  of 
every  form,  from  every  land,  including  the  wild  Indian's  club, 
saddles,  hunting-crops,  bits  and  stirrups  of  every  pattern,  fenc- 
ing-masks, and  boxing-gloves,  lay  in  strange  and  disorderly 
confusion.  However,  by  thus  surrounding  himself  with  the 
accessories  of  his  favorite  occupations  and  studies,  the  colonel 
showed  that  he  had  the  courage  of  his  opinions.  In  fact,  in 
his  opinion  no  reading  was  endurable  for  more  than  a  quarter 
of  an  hour,  unless  indeed  it  were  the  "  Stud  Journal." 

It  must  be  supposed,  however,  that  politics  had  made  their 
way  into  his  life,  devoted  as  it  was  to  the  worship  of  muscular 
development  and  equine  science,  for  Maxime  found  strewn 
on  the  floor  most  of  the  morning's  papers,  flung  aside  with 
contempt  when  the  colonel  had  looked  them  through.  From 
among  the  heap  M.  de  Trailles  picked  up  the  "  National," 
and  his  eye  at  once  fell  on  these  lines,  forming  a  short  para- 
graph on  the  front  page — 

"Our  side  has  secured  a  great  success  in  the  district  of 
Arcis-sur-Aube.  In  spite  of  the  efforts  of  local  functionaries, 
supported  by  those  of  a  special  agent  sent  by  the  Government 
to  this  imperiled  outpost,  the  Committee  is  almost  entirely 
composed  of  the  adherents  of  the  most  advanced  Left.  We 
may  therefore  quite  confidently  predict  the  election  to-morrow 
of  M.  Dorlange,  one  of  our  most  distinguished  sculptors,  a 
man  whom  we  have  warmly  recommended  to  the  suff"rages  of 
our  readers.  They  will  not  be  surprised  at  seeing  him  re- 
turned, not  under  the  name  of  Dorlange,  but  as  Monsieur 
Charles  de  Sallenauve. 

"  ^y  an  act  of  recognition,  signed  and  witnessed  on  May 
2d,  at  the  office  of  Maitre  Achille  Pigoult,  notary  at  Arcis, 
M-  Dorlange  is  authorized  to  take  and  use  the  name  of  one  of 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  261 

the  best  families  in  Champagne,  to  which  he  did  not  till  then 
know  that  he  belonged.  But  Dorlange  or  Sallenauve,  the  new 
deputy  is  one  of  US,  a  fact  of  which  the  Government  will 
ere  long  be  made  aware  in  the  Chamber." 

Maxime  tossed  the  sheet  aside  with  petulant  annoyance  and 
picked  up  another.  This  was  an  organ  of  the  Legitimist  party. 
In  it  he  read  under  the  heading  of  Elections — 

"The  staff  of  the  National  Guard  and  the  Jockey  Club, 
who  had  several  members  in  the  last  Chamber  of  Deputies, 
have  just  sent  one  of  their  most  brilliant  notables  to  the 
newly  elected  Parliament,  of  which  the  first  session  is  about 
to  open.  Colonel  Franchessini,  so  well  known  for  his  zealous 
prosecution  of  National  Guards  who  shirk  service,  was  elected 
almost  unanimously  for  one  of  the  rotten  boroughs  of  the 
Civil  List.  It  is  supposed  that  he  will  take  his  seat  with  the 
phalanx  of  the  aides-de-camp,  and  that  in  the  Chamber,  as  in 
the  office  of  the  staff,  he  will  be  a  firm  and  ardent  supporter 
of  the  policy  of  the  status  qtioJ** 

As  Maxime  got  to  the  end  of  this  paragraph  the  colonel 
came  in. 

Colonel  Franchessini,  for  a  short  time  in  the  Imperial 
army,  had,  under  the  Restoration,  figured  as  a  dashing  officer ; 
but  in  consequence  of  some  little  clouds  that  had  tarnished 
the  perfect  brightness  of  his  honor,  he  had  been  compelled 
to  resign  his  commission,  so  that  in  1830  he  was  quite  free  to 
devote  himself  with  passionate  ardor  to  the  "  dynasty  of  July." 
He  had  not,  however,  reentered  the  service,  because,  not  long 
after  his  little  misadventure,  he  had  found  great  consolation 
from  an  immensely  rich  Englishwoman  who  had  allowed  her- 
self to  be  captivated  by  his  handsome  face  and  figure,  at  that 
time  worthy  of  Antinous,  and  had  annexed  him  as  her  hus- 
band.    He  had  ultimately  resumed  his  epaulettes  as  a  member 


262  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS, 

of  the  staff  of  the  citizen  militia.  He  had  revealed  himself  in 
that  position  as  the  most  turbulent  and  contentious  of  swash- 
bucklers, and  by  the  aid  of  the  extensive  connections  secured 
to  him  by  his  wealth  and  this  influential  position,  he  had  now 
pushed  his  way — the  news  was  correct — into  a  seat  in  the 
Chamber. 

"Well,  Maxime,"  said  he,  holding  out  a  hand  to  his  ex- 
pectant visitor,  "  from  where  in  the  devil  do  you  come?  We 
have  not  seen  a  sign  of  you  at  the  club  for  more  than  this 
fortnight  past." 

"Whither  have  I  come?"  repeated  Monsieur  de  Trailles. 
"I  will  tell  you.     But  first  let  me  congratulate  you." 

"Yes,"  said  the  colonel  airily,  "they  took  it  into  their 
heads  to  elect  me.  On  my  word,  I  am  very  innocent  of  it 
all;  if  no  one  had  worked  any  harder  for  it  than  I " 

"My  dear  fellow,  you  are  a  man  of  gold  for  any  district, 
and  if  only  the  voters  I  have  had  to  deal  with  had  been  equally 
intelligent " 

"  What,  have  you  been  standing  for  a  place?  But  from  the 
state — the  somewhat  entangled  state — of  your  finances  I  did 
not  think  you  were  in  a  position " 

"No;  and  I  was  not  working  on  my  own  account.  Ras- 
tignac  was  worried  about  the  voting  in  Arcis-sur-Aube,  and 
asked  me  to  spend  a  few  days  there." 

"Arcis-sur-Aube!  But,  my  dear  fellow,  if  I  remember 
rightly  some  article  I  was  reading  this  morning  in  one  of  those 
rags,  they  are  making  a  shocking  bad  choice — some  plaster- 
cast  maker,  an  image- cutter,  whom  they  propose  to  send  up 
to  us?" 

"  Just  so,  and  it  is  about  that  rascally  business  that  I  came 
to  consult  you.  I  have  not  been  two  hours  in  Paris,  and  I 
shall  see  Rastignac  only  as  I  leave  this." 

"  He  is  getting  on  famously,  that  little  minister  !  "  said  the 
colonel,  interrupting  the  skillful  modulation  through  which 
Maxime  by  every  word  had  quietly  tended  to  the  object  of 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  2C3 

his  visit.  "  He  is  very  much  liked  at  the  Ch&teau.  Do  you 
know  that  little  Nucingen  girl  he  married?  " 

"Yes,  I  often  sge  Rastignac;  he  is  a  very  old  friend  of 
mine." 

'*  She  is  a  pretty  little  thing,"  the  colonel  went  on.  "  Very 
pretty;  and  when  the  first  year  of  matrimony  is  dead  and 
buried,  I  fancy  that  a  mild  charge  in  that  quarter  might  be 
ventured  on  with  some  hope  of  success." 

"Come,  come!"  said  Maxirae,  "a  man  of  position  like 
you,  a  legislator !  Why,  after  merely  stirring  the  electoral 
pot  for  somebody  else,  I  have  come  back  quite  a  settled  and 
reformed  character." 

"  Then  you  went  to  Arcis-sur-Aube  to  hinder  the  election 
of  this  hewer  of  stone?" 

"  Not  at  all ;  I  went  there  to  scotch  the  wheels  of  a  Left 
Centre  candidate." 

"  Pooh  !  I  am  not  sure  that  it  is  not  as  bad  as  the  Left 
out  and  out.  But  take  a  cigar  ;  I  have  some  good  ones  there 
— the  same  as  the  princes  smoke." 

Maxime  would  have  gained  nothing  by  refusing,  for  the 
colonel  had  already  risen  to  ring  for  his  valet,  to  whom  he 
merely  said  :  "Lights." 

"  At  first  everything  was  going  splendidly.  To  oust  the 
candidate  who  had  scared  the  ministry — a  lawyer,  the  very 
worst  kind  of  vermin — I  disinterred  a  retired  hosier,  the 
mayor  of  the  town,  idiot  enough  for  anything,  whom  I  per- 
suaded to  come  forward.  This  worthy  was  convinced  that 
he,  like  his  opponent,  belonged  to  the  Opposition.  That  is 
the  prevalent  opinion  in  the  whole  district  at  the  present 
time,  so  that  the  election,  by  my  judicious  manoeuvring,  was 
as  good  as  won.  And  our  man  once  safe  in  Paris,  the  great 
wizard  at  the  Tuileries  would  have  spoken  three  words  to 
him,  and  this  rabid  antagonist,  turned  inside  out  like  a  stock- 
ing of  his  own  making,  would  have  been  anything  we 
wished." 


264  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"  Well  played,"  said  the  colonel ;  "  I  see  the  hand  of  my 
Maxime  in  it  all." 

"  You  will  see  it  yet  plainer  when  he  tells  you  that  in  this 
little  arrangement,  without  taking  toll  from  his  employers,  he 
expected  to  turn  an  honest  penny.  To  engraft  on  that  dull 
stock  some  sort  of  parliamentary  ambition,  I  had  to  begin  by 
making  myself  agreeable  to  his  wife,  a  not  unpalatable  country 
matron,  though  a  little  past  the  prime " 

"Yes,   yes;    very  good "    said   Franchessini.     "The 

husband  a  deputy — satisfied ?" 

*'  You  are  not  near  it,  my  dear  fellow.  There  is  a  daughter 
in  the  house,  an  only  child,  very  much  spoilt,  nineteen,  nice- 
looking,  and  with  something  like  a  million  francs  of  her 
own." 

"  But,  my  dear  Maxime,  I  passed  by  your  tailor's  yesterday 
and  your  coachmaker's,  and  I  saw  no  illuminations." 

"  They  would,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  have  been  premature. 
But  so  matters  stood :  the  two  ladies  crazy  to  make  a  move  to 
Paris  ;  full  of  overflowing  gratitude  to  the  man  who  could 
get  them  there  through  the  door  of  the  Palais  Bourbon  ;  the 
girl  possessed  with  the  idea  of  being  a  countess ;  the  mother 
transported  at  the  notion  of  holding  a  political  drawing-room 
— you  see  all  the  obvious  openings  that  the  situation  afforded, 
and  you  know  me  well  enough  to  believe  that  I  was  not 
behindhand  to  avail  myself  of  such  possibilities  when  once  I 
had  discerned  them." 

"I  am  quite  easy  on  that  score,"  said  the  colonel,  as  he 
opened  a  window  to  let  out  some  of  the  cigar  smoke  that  by 
this  time  was  filling  the  room. 

"  So  I  was  fully  prepared,"  Maxime  went  on,  "  to  swallow 
the  damsel  and  the  fortune  as  soon  as  I  had  made  up  my  mind 
to  leap  plump  into  this  misalliance ;  when,  falling  from  the 
clouds,  or  to  be  accurate,  shot  up  from  underground,  the  gen- 
tlemen with  two  names,  of  whom  you  read  in  the  '  National ' 
this  morning,  suddenly  came  on  the  scene." 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  265 

"By  the  way,"  said  the  colonel,  "what  may  this  act  of 
recognition  be  which  enables  a  man  to  take  a  name  he  had 
never  heard  of  on]y  a  day  since?  " 

"  The  recognition  of  a  natural  son  in  the  presence  of  a 
notary.     It  is  perfectly  legal." 

"Then  our  gentleman  is  of  the  interesting  tribe  of  the 
nameless?  Yes,  yes,  those  rascals  often  have  great  luck.  I 
am  not  at  all  surprised  that  this  one  should  have  cut  the 
ground  from  under  your  feet." 

"If  we  were  living  in  the  Middle  Ages,"  said  Maxime,  "I 
should  account  for  the  unhorsing  of  my  man  and  the  success 
of  this  fellow  by  magic  and  witchcraft ;  for  he  will,  I  fear,  be 
your  colleague.  How  can  you  account  for  the  fact  that  an 
old  tricoteuse,  formerly  a  friend  of  Danton's,  and  now  the 
mother  superior  of  an  Ursuline  convent,  with  the  help  of  a 
nephew,  an  obscure  Paris  organist  whom  she  brought  out  as 
the  masculine  figurehead  of  her  scheme,  should  have  hood- 
winked a  whole  constituency  to  such  a  point  that  this  stranger 
actually  polled  an  imposing  majority?" 

"Well,  but  some  one  knew  him,  I  suppose?" 

"Not  a  soul,  unless  it  were  this  old  hypocrite.  Till  the 
moment  of  his  arrival  he  had  no  fortune,  no  connections — not 
even  a  father !  While  he  was  taking  his  boots  off  he  was 
made — heaven  knows  how — the  proprietor  of  a  fine  estate. 
Then,  in  quite  the  same  vein,  a  gentleman  supposed  to  be  a 
native  of  the  place,  from  which  he  had  absented  himself  for 
many  years,  presented  himself  with  this  ingenious  schemer  in 
a  notary's  office,  acknowledged  him  post-haste  as  his  son,  and 
vanished  again  in  the  course  of  the  night,  no  one  knowing  by 
which  road  he  went.  This  trick  having  come  off  all  right, 
the  Ursuline  and  her  ally  launched  their  nominee;  republi- 
cans, legitimists,  and  conservatives,  the  clergy,  the  nobility, 
the  middle-classes — one  and  all,  as  if  bound  by  a  spell  cast 
over  the  whole  land,  came  round  to  this  favorite  of  the  old 
nun-witch ;  and,  but  for  the  sacred  battalion  of  officials  who, 


266  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

under  my  eye,  put  a  bold  face  on  the  matter,  and  did  not 
break  up,  there  was  nothing  to  hinder  his  being  returned 
unanimously,  as  you  were." 

"And  so,  my  poor  friend,  farewell  to  the  fortune?" 

"  Well,  not  so  bad  as  that.  But  everything  is  put  off. 
The  father  complains  that  the  blissful  peace  of  his  existence 
is  broken,  that  he  has  been  made  quite  ridiculous — when  the 
poor  man  is  so  utterly  ridiculous  to  begin  with.  The  daughter 
would  still  like  to  be  a  countess,  but  the  mother  cannot  make 
up  her  mind  to  see  her  political  drawing-room  carried  down 
stream ;  God  knows  to  what  lengths  I  may  have  to  go  in  con- 
solation !  Then  I  myself  am  worried  by  the  need  for  coming 
to  an  early  solution  of  the  problem.  There  I  was — there  was 
the  girl — I  sliould  have  gotten  married ;  I  should  have  taken 
a  year  to  settle  my  affairs,  and  then  by  next  session  I  should 
have  made  my  respectable  father-in-law  resign,  and  have 
stepped  into  his  seat  in  the  Chamber.  You  see  what  a  horizon 
lay  before  me." 

"But,  my  dear  fellow,  apart  from  the  political  horizon, 
that  million  must  not  be  allowed  to  slip." 

"Oh,  well,  so  far  as  that  goes,  I  am  easy;  it  is  only  post- 
poned. My  good  people  are  coming  to  Paris.  After  the  re- 
pulse they  have  sustained,  Arcis  is  no  longer  a  possible  home 
for  them.  Beauvisage  particularly — I  apologize  for  the  name, 
but  it  is  that  of  my  fair  one's  family — Beauvisage,  like  Corio- 
lanus,  is  ready  to  put  the  ungrateful  province  to  fire  and  sword. 
And  indeed  the  hapless  exiles  will  have  a  place  here  to  lay 
their  heads,  for  they  are  the  owners,  if  you  please,  of  the 
Hotel  Beaus6ant." 

"Owners  of  the  Hotel  Beauseant  !  "  cried  the  colonel  in 
amazement." 

"  Yes,  indeed  ;  and,  after  all — Beauseant — Beauvisage ;  only 
the  end  of  the  name  needs  a  change.  My  dear  fellow,  you 
have  no  idea  of  what  these  country  fortunes  mount  up  to, 
accumulated  sou  by  sou,  especially  when  the  omnipotence  of 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCJS.  267 

thrift  is  supported  by  the  incessant  suction  of  the  leech  we  call 
trade  !  We  must  make  the  best  of  it ;  the  middle-classes  are 
rising  steadily  like  a.tide,  and  it  is  really  very  kind  of  them 
to  buy  our  houses  and  lands  instead  of  cutting  off  our  heads, 
as  they  did  in  '93  to  get  them  for  nothing." 

"But  you,  my  dear  Maxime,  have  reduced  your  houses  and 
lands  to  the  simplest  expression." 

"No — since,  as  you  perceive,  I  am  thinking  of  reinstating 
myself." 

"The  Hotel  Beauseant!  I  remember  it  well;  it  was  quite  a 
royal  residence,"  said  the  colonel. 

"  Happily,  everything  has  been  completely  spoilt.  It  was 
let  for  years  to  some  English  people,  and  now  extensive 
repairs  are  needed.  This  is  a  capital  bond  between  me  and 
my  country  friends,  for  without  me  they  have  no  idea  how  to 
set  to  work.  It  is  understood  that  I  am  to  be  director-general 
of  the  works ;  but  I  have  promised  my  future  mother-in-law 
another  thing,  and  I  need  your  assistance,  my  dear  fellow,  to 
enable  me  to  perform  it." 

"You  do  not  want  a  license  for  her  to  sell  tobacco  and 
stamps?" 

"No,  nothing  so  difficult  as  that.  These  confounded 
women,  when  they  are  possessed  by  a  spirit  of  hatred  or 
revenge,  have  really  wonderful  instinct ;  and  Madame  Beau- 
visage,  who  roars  like  a  lioness  at  the  mere  name  of  Dor- 
lange,  has  taken  it  into  her  head  that  there  must  be  some 
dirty  intrigue  wriggling  at  the  bottom  of  his  incomprehensible 
success.  It  is  quite  certain  that  the  apparition  and  disappear- 
ance of  this  *  American '  father  give  grounds  for  very  odd 
surmises ;  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  if  we  pressed  the  button, 
the  organist,  who  is  said  to  have  taken  entire  charge  of  this 
interesting  bastard's  education,  and  to  know  the  secret  of  his 
parentage,  might  afford  the  most  unexpected  revelations. 

"  And  thinking  of  this,  I  remembered  a  man  over  whom  you 
have,  I  fancy,  considerable  influence,  and  who  in  this  *  Dor- 


268  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

lange  hunt '  may  be  of  great  use  to  us.  You  recollect  the 
robbery  of  Jenny  Cadine's  jewels,  which  she  lamented  so 
bitterly  one  evening  when  supping  with  you  at  Very's?" 

"Yes,"  said  the  colonel,  "I  remember  very  well.  My 
audacity  was  lucky.  But  I  may  tell  you  frankly,  that  with 
more  time  for  thought,  I  should  not  have  dealt  so  cavalierly 
with  Monsieur  de  Saint-Estdve.  He  is  a  man  to  be  ap- 
proached with  respect." 

"  Bless  me !  Why,  is  not  he  a  retired  criminal  who  has 
served  his  time  on  the  hulks,  and  whose  release  you  helped  to 
obtain — who  must  have  for  you  some  such  veneration  as 
Fieschi  showed  to  one  of  his  protectors?  " 

"  Very  true.  Monsieur  de  Saint-Estdve,  like  his  prede- 
cessor Bibi-Lupin,  has  had  his  troubles.  But  he  is  now  at  the 
head  of  the  criminal  police,  with  very  important  functions 
that  he  fulfills  with  remarkable  address.  If  this  were  a  matter 
strictly  within  his  department,  I.  should  not  hesitate  to  give 
you  an  introduction  ;  but  the  affair  of  which  you  speak  is.  a 
delicate  business,  and  first  and  foremost  I  must  feel  my  way 
to  ascertain  whether  he  will  even  discuss  it  with  you." 

"  Oh,  I  fancied  he  was  entirely  at  your  commands.  Say 
no  more  about  it  if  there  is  any  difficulty." 

"  The  chief  difficulty  is  that  I  never  see  him.  I  cannot,  of 
course,  write  him  about  such  a  thing ;  I  lack  opportunity — 
the  chance  of  a  meeting.  But  why  not  apply  to  Rastignac, 
who  would  simply  order  him  to  take  steps?  " 

"  Rastignac,  as  you  may  understand,  will  not  give  me  a 
very  good  reception.  I  had  promised  to  succeed,  and  I  have 
come  back  a  failure;  he  will  regard  this  side-issue  as  one  of 
those  empty  dreams  a  man  clutches  at  to  conceal  a  defeat." 

"I  will  do  my  best  for  you,  only  it  will  take  time,"  said 
the  colonel,  rising. 

Maxime  had  paid  a  long  visit,  and  took  the  hint  to  cut  it 
short;  he  took  leave  with  a  shade  of  coolness,  which  did  not 
particularly  disturb  the  colonel. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  269 

As  soon  as  Monsieur  de  Trailles  was  gone,  Franchessini 
took  the  knave  of  spades  out  of  a  pack  of  cards,  and  cut  the 
figure  out  from  the  Background.  Placed  between  two  thick 
folds  of  letter-paper,  he  tucked  it  into  an  envelope,  which  he 
addressed  in  a  feigned  hand  to  Monsieur  de  Saint-Esteve, 
Petite  Rue  Sainte-Anne,  Pres  du  Quai  des  Orfevres. 

This  done,  he  rang,  countermanded  his  carriage,  which  he 
had  ordered  before  Maxime's  visit,  and,  setting  out  on  foot, 
mailed  the  securely  sealed  strange  missive  with  his  own  hand 
in  the  first  letter-box  he  came  to. 

At  the  close  of  the  elections,  which  were  now  over,  the 
Government,  against  all  expectations,  still  had  a  majority  in 
the  Chamber,  but  a  problematical  and  provisional  majority, 
promising  but  a  struggling  and  sickly  existence  to  the  Ministry 
in  power.  Still,  it  had  won  the  numerical  success  which  is 
held  to  be  satisfactory  by  men  who  wish  to  remain  in  office 
at  any  price.  Every  voice  in  the  Ministerial  camp  was  raised 
in  a  Te  Deutn,  which  as  often  serves  to  celebrate  a  doubtful 
defeat  as  an  undoubted  victory. 

Madame  de  I'Estorade,  who  was  too  much  taken  up  by  her 
children  to  be  very  punctual  in  her  social  duties,  had  long 
owed  Madame  de  Rastignac  a  visit  in  return  for  that  paid  by 
the  minister's  wife  on  the  evening  when  the  sculptor,  now 
promoted  to  be  deputy,  had  dined  there  after  the  famous  oc- 
casion of  the  statuette,  as  related  by  her  to  Madame  Octave 
de  Camps.  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  a  zealous  Conservative, 
as  we  know,  had  insisted  that,  on  a  day  when  politics  and 
politeness  were  both  on  the  same  side,  his  wife  should  dis- 
charge this  debt  already  of  long  standing.  Madame  de  I'Es- 
torade had  gone  early  to  have  done  with  the  task  as  soon  as 
possible,  and  so  found  herself  at  the  upper  end  of  the  group 
of  seated  ladies ;  while  the  men  stood  about,  talking.  Her 
chair  was  next  to  Madame  de  Rastignac,  who  sat  nearest  to 
the  fire.     At  official  receptions  this  is  usual,  a  sort  of  guide  to 


270  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

the  new-comers  who  know  where  to  go  at  once  to  make  their 
bow  to  the  lady  of  the  house. 

But  Madame  de  I'Estorade's  hopes  of  curtailing  her  visit 
had  not  taken  due  account  of  the  fascinations  of  conversation 
in  which,  on  such  an  occasion,  her  husband  wr^  certain  to  be 
involved. 

Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  though  no  great  orator,  was  influ- 
ential in  the  Upper  Chamber,  and  regarded  as  a  man  of  great 
foresight  and  accurate  judgment ;  and  at  every  step  he  took 
as  he  moved  round  the  rooms,  he  was  stopped  either  by  some 
political  bigwig  or  by  some  magnate  of  finance,  of  diplomacy, 
or  merely  of  the  business  world,  and  eagerly  invited  to  give 
his  opinion  on  the  prospects  of  the  opening  session. 

Monsieur  de  I'Estorade  talked  so  long  and  so  well  that  at 
last  the  drawing-room  was  almost  empty,  and  only  a  small 
circle  was  left  of  intimate  friends,  gathered  round  his  wife 
and  Madame  de  Rastignac.  The  minister  himself,  as  he  re- 
turned from  seeing  off  the  last  of  his  guests  to  whose  impor- 
tance such  an  attention  was  due,  rescued  Monsieur  de  I'Estor- 
ade from  the  clutches — as  he  thought  somewhat  perilous — of  a 
Wurtemberg  baron,  the  mysterious  agent  of  some  Northern 
Power,  who,  helped  by  his  orders  and  his  gibberish,  had  the 
knack  of  acquiring  rather  more  information  about  any  given 
matter  than  his  interlocutor  intended  to  give  him. 

Hooking  his  arm  confidentially  through  that  of  the  guileless 
Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  who  was  lending  a  gullible  ear  to  the 
trans-Rhenish  rhodomontade  in  which  the  wily  Teuton  care- 
fully wrapped  up  the  curiosity  he  dared  not  frankly  avow — 

"  That  man,  you  know,  is  a  mere  nobody,"  said  Rastignac, 
as  the  foreigner  made  him  a  humbly  obsequious  bow. 

**  He  does  not  talk  badly,"  replied  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade. 
"  If  it  were  not  for  his  villainous  accent " 

"  That,  on  the  contrary,  is  his  strong  point,  as  it  is  Nucin- 
gen's,  my  father-in-law.  With  their  way  of  mutilating  the 
French  language,  and  always  seeming  to  be  in  the  clouds, 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  271 

these  Germans  have  the  cleverest  way  of  worming  out  a 
secret " 

As  they  joined  the-group  about  Madame  de  Rastignac — 

"Madame,"  said  the  minister  to  the  countess,  "I  have 
brought  you  back  your  husband,  having  caught  him  red- 
handed  in  '  criminal  conversation '  with  a  man  from  the 
Zollverein,  who  would  probably  not  have  released  him  this 
night." 

**  I  was  about  to  ask  Madame  de  Rastignac  if  she  could 
give  me  a  bed,  to  set  her  free  at  any  rate,  for  Monsieur  de 
I'Estorade's  interminable  conversations  have  hindered  me 
from  leaving  her  at  liberty." 

"Oh,  my  dear!"  cried  Rastignac.  "The  session  will 
open  immediately ;  pray  give  yourself  no  scornful  airs  to  the 
elect  representatives  of  the  nation  !  Beside,  you  will  get  into 
Madame  de  I'Estorade's  black  books.  One  of  our  newly 
made  sovereigns  is,  I  am  told,  high  in  her  good  graces." 

"In  mine?"  said  Madame  de  I'Estorade  with  a  look  of 
surprise,  and  she  colored  a  little. 

"To  be  sure!  quite  true,"  said  Madame  de  Rastignac. 
"  I  had  quite  forgotten  that  artist  who,  on  the  last  occasion 
of  my  seeing  you  at  your  own  house,  was  cutting  out  such 
charming  silhouettes  for  your  children,  in  a  corner.  I  must 
own  that  I  was  then  far  from  supposing  that  he  would  become 
one  of  our  masters." 

"But  even  then  he  was  talked  of  as  a  candidate,"  replied 
Madame  de  I'Estorade ;  "  though,  to  be  sure,  it  was  not  taken 
very  seriously." 

"Quite  seriously  by  me,"  said  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade, 
eager  to  add  a  stripe  to  his  reputation  as  a  prophet.  "  From 
the  very  first  talk  on  political  matters  that  I  had  with  our 
candidate,  I  expressed  my  astonishment  at  his  breadth  of 
view — Monsieur  de  Ronquerolles  is  my  witness." 

"Certainly,"  said  this  gentleman,  "he  is  no  ordinary 
youth  \  still,  I  do  not  build  much  on  his  future  career,    He 


272  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

is  a  man  of  impulse,  and,  as  Monsieur  de  Talleyrand  well  ob- 
served, the  first  impulse  is  always  the  best." 

"Well,  then,  monsieur  !  "  said  Madame  de  I'Estorade  in- 
nocently. 

''Well,  madame,"  replied  Monsieur  de  Ronquerolles,  who 
piqued  himself  on  skepticism,  "heroism  is  out  of  date;  it  is 
a  desperately  heavy  and  clumsy  outfit,  and  sinks  the  wearer 
on  every  road." 

"And  yet  I  should  have  supposed  that  great  qualities  of 
heart  and  mind  had  something  to  do  with  the  composition  of 
a  man  of  mark." 

"  Qualities  of  mind,  yes — you  are  right  there ;  but  even  so, 
on  condition  of  their  tendency  in  a  certain  direction.  But 
qualities  of  heart — of  what  use,  I  ask  you,  can  they  be  in  a 
political  career?  To  hoist  you  on  to  stilts  on  which  you  walk 
far  less  firmly  than  on  your  feet,  off  which  you  tumble  at  the 
first  push  and  break  your  neck." 

"Whence  we  must  conclude,"  said  Madame  de  Rastignac, 
laughing,  while  her  friend  preserved  a  disdainful  silence, 
"  that  the  political  world  is  peopled  with  good-for-noth- 
ings." 

"  That  is  very  near  the  truth,  madame ;  ask  *  Lazarille  ! '  " 
And  with  this  allusion  to  a  pleasantry  that  is  still  famous  on 
the  stage,  Monsieur  de  Ronquerolles  laid  his  hand  familiarly 
on  the  minister's  shoulder. 

"  In  my  opinion,  my  dear  fellow,  your  generalizations  are 
rather  too  particular,"  said  Rastignac. 

"Nay,"  said  Monsieur  de  Ronquerolles,  "come  now;  let 
us  be  serious.  To  my  knowledge,  this  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve 
— the  name  he  has  assumed,  I  believe,  instead  of  Dorlange, 
which  he  himself  said  frankly  enough  was  a  name  for  the 
stage — has  committed  two  very  handsome  deeds  within  a 
short  time.  In  my  presence,  aiding  and  abetting,  he  was 
within  an  ace  of  being  killed  by  the  Due  de  Rhetore  for  a 
few  unpleasant  remarks  made  on  one  of  his  friends." 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  273 

Before  the  other  **  handsome  deed  "  could  be  brought  into 
the  discussion,  at  the  risk  of  seeming  rude  by  interrupting  the 
course  of  the  argument,  Madame  de  I'Estorade  rose  and  gave 
her  husband  an  imperceptible  nod  to  signify  that  she  wished 
to  leave. 

Monsieur  de  I'Estorade  took  advantage  of  the  slightness. 
of  the  signal  to  ignore  it,  and  remained  immovable.  Mon- 
sieur de  Ronquerolles  went  on — 

"  His  other  achievement  was  to  fling  himself  under  the  feet 
of  some  runaway  horses  and  snatch  Madame  de  I'Estorade's 
little  daughter  from  certain  death." 

Everybody  looked  at  Madame  de  I'Estorade,  who  this  time 
blushed  crimson ;  but  at  the  same  instant  she  found  words, 
feeling  that  she  must  by  some  means  keep  her  countenance, 
and  she  said  with  some  spirit — 

"  It  would  seem,  monsieur,  that  you  wish  to  convey  that 
Monsieur  de  Sallenauve  was  a  great  fool  for  his  pains,  since 
he  risked  his  life,  and  would  thus  have  cut  short  all  his 
chances  in  the  future.  I  may  tell  you,  however,  that  there  is 
one  woman  whom  you  would  hardly  persuade  to  share  that 
opinion — and  that  is  ray  child's  mother." 

As  she  spoke,  Madame  de  I'Estorade  was  almost  in  tears. 
She  warmly  shook  hands  with  Madame  de  Rastignac,  and  so 
emphatically  made  a  move,  that  this  time  she  got  her  fixture 
of  a  husband  under  way. 

Madame  de  Rastignac,  as  she  went  with  her  friend  to  the 
drawing-room  door,  spoke  in  an  undertone — 

"I  really  thank  you,"  said  she,  "for  having  boldly  held 
your  own  against  that  cynic.  Monsieur  de  Rastignac  has 
some  unpleasant  allies  left  from  his  bachelor  days." 

As  she  returned  to  her  seat,  Monsieur  de  Ronquerolles  was 
speaking — 

"Aha,"  said  he,  "these  life-preservers!  Poor  I'Estorade 
is,  in  fact,  as  yellow  as  a  lemon  !  " 

"Indeed,  monsieur,  you  are  atrocious  !  "  said  Madame  de 
18 


274  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

Rastignac  indignantly.  "A  woman  whom  calumny  has 
never  dared  to  blight,  who  lives  solely  for  her  husband  and 
children,  and  who  has  tears  in  her  eyes  at  the  mere  remote 
recollection  of  the  danger  that  threatened  one  of  them  !  " 

*'  Bless  me,  niadame,"  said  Monsieur  de  RonqueroUes, 
heedless  of  this  little  lecture,  "  I  can  only  tell  you  that  your 
Newfoundland  dog  is  a  dangerous  and  unwholesome  breed. 
After  all,  if  Madame  de  I'Estorade  should  think  herself  too 
seriously  compromised,  she  has  always  this  to  fall  back  on — 
she  can  get  him  to  marry  the  girl  he  saved." 

Monsieur  de  RonqueroUes  had  no  sooner  spoken  than  he 
was  conscious  of  the  hideous  blunder  he  had  made  by  uttering 
such  a  speech  in  Augusta  de  Nucingen's  drawing-room.  It 
was  his  turn  to  redden — though  he  had  lost  the  habit  of  it, 
and  deep  silence,  which  seemed  to  enfold  him,  put  the  crown- 
ing touch  to  his  embarrassment. 

"  That  clock  is  surely  slow,"  said  Rastignac,  to  make  some 
sound  of  whatever  words,  and  also  to  put  an  end  to  a  sitting 
at  which  speech  was  so  luckless. 

"It  is  indeed,"  said  Monsieur  de  RonqueroUes,  after  look- 
ing at  his  watch.  "  Just  on  a  quarter-past  twelve  " — the  hour 
was  half-past  eleven. 

He  bowed  formally  to  the  mistress  of  the  house,  and  went, 
as  did  the  rest  of  the  company. 

"You  saw  how  distressed  he  was,"  said  Rastignac  to  his 
wife,  as  soon  as  they  were  alone.  "  He  was  a  thousand  miles 
away  from  any  malicious  intent." 

**  No  matter  ;  as  I  was  saying  just  now  to  Madame  de  I'Es- 
torade, your  bachelor  life  has  left  you  heir  to  some  odious 
acquaintances." 

"  But,  my  dear  child,  the  King  is  civil  every  day  to  people 
he  would  be  only  too  glad  to  lock  up  in  the  bastille,  if  there 
still  were  a  bastille,  and  the  Charter  would  allow  it." 

Madame  de  Rastignac  made  no  reply ;  she  went  up  to  her 
room  without  saying  good-night. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  275 

Not  long  after,  the  minister  tapped  at  a  side-door  of  the 
room,  and  finding  it  locked — 

"Augusta,"  said  he^  in  the  voice  which  the  most  ordinary- 
bourgeois  of  the  Rue  Saint-Denis  would  have  adopted  under 
similar  circumstances. 

The  only  answer  he  heard  was  a  bolt  shot  inside. 

"There  are  some  things  in  the  past,"  said  he  to  himself, 
with  much  annoyance,  "that  are  quite  unlike  that  door — 
they  always  stand  wide  open  on  the  present. 

"Augusta,"  he  began  again,  "  I  wanted  to  ask  you  at  what 
hour  I  might  find  Madame  de  I'Estorade  at  home.  I  mean 
to  call  on  her  to-morrow  after  what  has  happened " 

"At  four  o'clock,"  the  lady  called  back,  "when  she  comes 
in  from  the  Tuileries,  where  she  always  walks  with  the  chil- 
dren." 

One  of  the  questions  which  had  been  most  frequently  mooted 
in  the  world  of  fashion  since  Madame  de  Rastignac's  marriage 
was  this :  **  Does  Augusta  love  her  husband  ?  " 

Doubt  was  allowable ;  Mademoiselle  de  Nucingen's  mar- 
riage had  been  the  ill-favored  and  not  very  moral  result  of  an 
intimacy  such  as  is  apt  to  react  on  the  daughter's  life  when  it 
has  lasted  in  the  mother's  till  the  course  of  years  and  long 
staleness  have  brought  it  to  a  state  of  atrophy  and  paralysis. 
In  such  unions,  where  love  is  to  be  transferred  to  the  next 
generation,  the  husband  is  usually  more  than  willing,  for  he 
is  released  from  joys  that  have  turned  rancid,  and  avails  him- 
self of  a  bargain  like  that  offered  by  the  magician  in  the 
"Arabian  Nights"  to  exchange  old  lamps  for  new.  But  the 
wife  is  in  the  precisely  opposite  predicament ;  between  her 
and  her  husband  there  stands  an  ever-present  memory — which 
may  come  to  life  again.  Even  apart  from  the  dominion  of 
the  senses,  she  must  be  conscious  of  an  older  power  antagonistic 
to  her  newer  influence  ;  must  she  not  almost  always  be  a  vic- 
tim, and  can  she  be  supposed  to  feel  impassioned  devotion  to 
the  maternal  leavings  ?    Rastignac  had  stood  waiting  outside 


276  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

the  door  for  about  as  long  as  it  has  taken  to  give  this  brief 
analysis  of  a  not  uncommon  conjugal  situation. 

"  Well,  good-night,  Augusta,"  said  he,  preparing  to  depart. 

As  he  piteously  took  his  leave,  the  door  was  suddenly  opened, 
and  his  wife,  throwing  herself  into  his  arms,  laid  her  head  on 
his  shoulder,  sobbing. 

The  question  was  answered :  Madame  de  Rastignac  loved 
her  husband.  And  yet  the  distant  murmuring  of  a  nice  little 
hell  might  be  heard  under  the  flowers  of  this  paradise. 

Rastignac  was  less  punctual  than  usual  next  morning ;  and 
by  the  time  he  went  into  his  private  office,  the  anteroom  be- 
yond was  already  occupied  by  seven  applicants  armed  with 
letters  of  introduction,  beside  two  peers  and  seven  members 
of  the  Lower  Chamber. 

A  bell  rang  sharply,  and  the  usher,  with  such  agitation  as 
proved  contagious  among  the  visitors,  hurried  into  the  min- 
ister's room.  A  moment  later  he  reappeared  with  the  stereo- 
typed apology — 

**  The  minister  is  called  to  attend  a  Council.  He  will, 
however,  have  the  honor  of  receiving  the  deputies  of  the 
Upper  and  Lower  Chambers.  The  rest  of  the  gentlemen  are 
requested  to  call  again." 

**  But  when — again  ?  "  asked  one  of  the  postponed  victims. 
"  This  is  the  third  time  I  have  called  within  three  days,  and 
all  for  nothing." 

The  usher  shrugged  his  shoulders,  as  much  as  to  say, 
"  That  is  no  fault  of  mine ;  I  only  obey  orders."  However, 
hearing  some  murmurs  as  to  the  privilege  accorded  to  the 
honorable  deputies — 

"  Those  gentlemen,"  said  he,  with  some  pomposity,  *'  come 
to  discuss  matters  of  public  interests." 

The  visitors  having  been  paid  in  this  false  coin,  the  bell 
rang  again,  and  the  usher  put  on  his  most  affable  smile. 

**  Whom  shall  I  have  the  honor  of  announcing  first? " 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  277 

"Gentlemen,"  said  Colonel  Franchessini,  "I  believe  I 
have  seen  you  all  come  in? " 

And  he  went  toward  the  door  which  the  usher  threw  open, 
announcing  in  a  loud,  distinct  voice — 

"Monsieur  le  Colonel  Franchessini." 

**  Ah,  a  good  beginning  this  morning !  "  said  the  minister, 
going  forward  a  few  steps  and  holding  out  his  hand.  "  What 
do  you  want  of  me,  my  dear  fellow?  A  railway,  a  canal,  a 
suspension  bridge ?  " 

"  I  have  come,  my  dear  friend,  to  trouble  you  about  a  little 
private  affair — a  matter  that  concerns  both  you  and  me  ?  " 

**  That  is  not  the  happiest  way  of  urging  the  question,  for 
I  must  tell  you  plainly  I  hold  no  good  recommendation  to 
myself." 

"You  have  had  a  visitor  lately?"  said  the  colonel,  pro- 
ceeding to  the  point. 

"A  visitor?     Dozens.     I  always  have." 

"Yes.  But  on  the  evening  of  Sunday  the  12th — the  day 
of  the  riot  ? ' ' 

"  Ah  !  now  I  know  what  you  mean.  But  the  man  is  going 
mad." 

"  Do  you  think  so  ?  "  said  the  colonel  dubiously. 

"  Well,  what  am  I  to  think  of  a  sort  of  visionary  who 
makes  his  way  in  here  under  favor  of  the  relaxed  vigilance 
which  in  a  Ministerial  residence  always  follows  on  musket- 
firing  in  the  streets ;  who  proceeds  to  tell  me  that  the  Govern- 
ment is  undermined  by  the  Republican  party,  at  the  very 
moment  when  the  staff-officers  of  the  National  Guard  assure 
me  that  we  have  not  had  even  a  skirmish ;  and  who  finally 
suggests  that  he  is  himself  the  only  man  who  can  insure  the 
future  safety  of  the  dynasty  ?  " 

"  So  that  you  did  not  welcome  him  very  cordially?" 

"So  that  I  soon  showed  him  out,  and  rather  peremptorily, 
in  spite  of  his  persistency.  At  any  time,  and  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, he  is  a  visitor  I  could  never  find  agreeable ;  but 


278  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

when,  on  my  pointing  out  to  him  that  he  holds  a  post  for 
which  he  is  admirably  fitted,  and  which  he  fills  with  the  greatest 
skill,  so  that  it  must  be  the  utmost  limit  of  his  ambition,  the 
maniac  replies  that  unless  his  services  are  accepted  France  is 
on  the  brink  of  a  precipice,  you  may  suppose  I  had  but  one 
thing  to  say — namely,  that  we  hope  to  save  it  without  his 
help." 

•'  Well,  it  is  done  !  "  said  the  colonel.  "But  now,  if  you 
will  allow  me  to  explain  matters " 

The  minister,  sitting  at  his  table  with  his  back  to  the  fire, 
leaned  round  to  look  at  the  clock. 

"Look  here,  my  dear  fellow,"  said  he,  after  seeing  what 
the  time  was,  "I  have  a  suspicion  that  you  will  not  be  brief, 
and  there  is  a  hungry  pack  waiting  outside  that  door ;  even  if 
I  could  give  you  time,  I  could  not  listen  properly.  Be  so 
kind  as  to  go  for  an  airing  till  noon,  and  come  back  to  break- 
fast." 

"That  will  suit  me  perfectly,"  said  the  colonel,  leaving. 
As  he  crossed  the  waiting-room — 

"Well,  gentlemen,"  said  he,  "I  have  not  kept  you  long, 
have  I?" 

He  shook  hands  with  one  and  another,  and  went  away. 

Three  hours  later,  when  the  colonel  appeared  in  Madame 
de  Rastignac's  drawing-room — where  he  was  introduced  to 
her — he  found  there  Nucingen,  the  minister's  father-in-law, 
who  came  almost  every  day  to  breakfast  there  on  his  way  to 
the  Bourse;  Emile  Blondet,  of  the  "Ddbats;"  Messrs. 
Moreau  (de  I'Oise),  Dionis,  and  Camusot,  three  fierce  Con- 
servative members ;  and  two  of  the  newly  elect,  whose  names 
it  is  not  certain  that  Rastignac  himself  knew.  Franchessini 
also  recognized  Martial  de  la  Roche-Hugon,  the  minister's 
brother-in-law  ;  the  inevitable  des  Lupeaulx,  a  peer  of  France ; 
and  a  third  figure,  who  talked  for  a  long  time  with  Rastignac 
in  a  window  recess.  He,  Emile  Blondet  explained  in  reply 
to  the  colonel's  inquiries,  was  a  former  functionary  of  the 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  279 

secret  police,  who  still  carried  on  his  profession  as  an  amateur, 
making  the  round  of  all  the  Government  offices  every  morn- 
ing, under  every  ministry,  with  as  much  zeal  and  punctuality 
as  if  it  still  were  his  duty. 

Madame  de  Rastignac,  seen  close,  was  fair  but  not  lym- 
phatic. She  was  strikingly  like  her  mother,  but  with  the 
shade  of  greater  elegance,  which  in  parvenu  families  grows 
from  generation  to  generation  as  they  get  farther  from  the 
source.  The  last  drop  of  the  original  Goriot  seemed  to  have 
evaporated  in  this  lovely  young  woman,  who  was  especially 
distinguished  by  the  fine  hands  and  feet,  which  show  breed- 
ing, and  of  which  the  absence  in  Madame  de  Nucingen,  in 
spite  of  her  beauty,  had  always  stamped  her  so  distressingly 
as  the  vermicelli-maker's  daughter. 

The  colonel,  as  a  man  who  might  subsequently  have  ideas 
of  his  own,  showed  repressed  eagerness  in  his  attentions  to 
Madame  de  Rastignac,  with  the  gallantry,  now  rather  out  of 
date,  which  seems  addressed  to  Woman  rather  than  to  the  in- 
dividual woman ;  idle  men  alone,  especially  if  they  have  been 
soldiers,  seem  to  preserve  a  reflection  of  this  condition.  The 
colonel,  whose  successes  in  the  boudoir  had  been  many,  knew 
that  this  distant  method  of  preparing  the  approaches  is  a  very 
effective  strategy  in  besieging  a  place. 

The  colonel,  as  he  meant  to  be  asked  to  the  house  again, 
took  care  to  speak  of  his  wife.  "  She  lived,"  he  said,  **  very 
much  in  the  old  English  way,  in  her  old  home ;  but  he  would 
be  happy  to  drag  her  out  of  her  habitual  retirement  to  intro- 
duce her  to  a  lady  of  such  distinguished  merit  as  Madame  de 
Rastignac,  if  indeed  she  would  allow  him  to  bring  her.  In 
spite  of  a  wide  difference  in  age  between  his  wife  and  his 
friend  the  minister's,  they  would  find,  he  thought,  one  happy 
point  of  contact  in  a  similar  zeal  for  good  works." 

In  fact,  Franchessini  had  hardly  entered  the  room  when  he 
found  himself  obliged  to  take  from  Madame  de  Rastignac  a 
ticket  for  a  ball  of  which  she  was  a  lady  patroness,  to  be  got 


280  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

up  for  the  benefit  of  the  victims  of  the  recent  earthquake  in 
Martinique. 

It  was  the  fashion  then  among  women  to  display  in  such 
acts  of  charity  an  audacity  beyond  all  bounds;  now,  as  it 
happened,  Madame  Franchessini  was  an  Irishwoman  of  great 
piety,  who  spent  in  good  works  most  of  her  spare  time  after 
superintending  the  management  of  her  house,  and  a  large 
part  of  the  sums  she  reserved  for  her  own  use  apart  from  her 
husband's.  So  the  offer  of  an  intimacy  with  a  woman  who 
would  be  so  ready  to  give  her  money  and  her  exertions  when 
needed  for  a  creche,  or  infant  schools,  or  children  orphaned 
by  the  cholera,  was  a  really  skillful  stroke  of  diplomacy ;  and 
it  shows  that  the  sportsman  in  the  colonel  had  not  altogether 
killed  the  faculty  of  foresight. 

Breakfast  over,  the  guests  left  or  withdrew  to  the  drawing- 
room  ;  and  Franchessini,  who  had  sat  at  Madame  de  Rastig- 
nac's  right  hand,  continued  his  conversation  with  her. 

**  Now  for  you  and  me,  my  friend  !  "  said  Rastignac  to  the 
colonel,  and  they  went  into  the  garden. 

*'I,  less  fortunate  than  you,"  said  Franchessini,  taking  up 
his  story  at  the  point  where  it  had  been  interrupted  a  few 
hours  previously,  **  have  kept  up  communications  with  the 
man  we  spoke  of — not  constant,  indeed ;  but  a  sort  of  evil 
concatenation  of  contact.  To  avoid  ever  having  him  in  my 
house,  we  agreed  that  whenever  he  wanted  to  speak  to  me  he 
should  write  to  me  without  any  signature  and  tell  me  where 
to  meet  him.  In  the  almost  impossible  event  of  my  wishing 
to  see  him,  I  was  to  send  a  playing-card  figure  cut  out  to  his 
den  in  the  Rue  Sainte-Anne,  and  he  would  notify  the  spot 
where  we  might  meet  undisturbed.  He  may  be  trusted  for  a 
clever  choice  of  a  suitable  place ;  no  man  knows  his  Paris 
better,  or  the  ways  of  moving  about  underground ^ 

"High  political  qualifications!"  said  Rastignac  sarcasti- 
cally. 

**I  tell  you  the  whole  truth,  you  see,"  replied  the  colonel, 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  281 

"to  prove  to  you  that,  in  my  opinion,  this  is  a  man  to  be 
treated  with  respect ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  that  you  may  not 
suppose  that  I  am  ^showing  you  a  mere  phantasmagoria  with  a 
view  to  persuading  you  into  doing  a  thing  quite  contrary  to 
your  first  intentions." 

"Pray  go  on,"  said  Rastignac,  pausing  to  gather  a  full- 
blown China  rose — by  way,  perhaps,  of  showing  his  perfect 
openness  oi  mind. 

"  On  the  evening  of  the  very  day  when  you  had  given  him 
so  rough  a  recepiion,  and  my  election  was  already  known  by 
telegraph  and  announced  in  an  evening  paper,  I  received  a 
note  from  him,  a  thing  that  had  not  happened  for  the  last 
eighteen  months — very  short  and  concise:  'To-morrow 
morning,  six  o'clock — Redoute  de  Clignancourt.'  " 

"Like  a  challenge,"  observed  Rastignac. 

"The  man  whom  you  call  a  visionary,"  Franchessini  went 
on,  "was,  when  I  joined  him,  sitting  on  a  knoll,  his  head 
between  his  hands.  When  he  heard  me,  and  as  I  went  close 
to  him,  he  rose  in  a  state  of  high  excitement,  took  me  by  the 
hand,  led  me  to  the  spot — very  little  altered — where  the  duel 
took  place,  and  in  the  strident  voice  you  know  so  well : 
*  What  did  you  do  here,  nearly  five-and-twenty  years  ago  ?  * 
said  he.  *A  thing,'  said  I,  *  of  which,  'pon  my  honor,  I 
repent.'  'And  I  too.  And  for  whom?'  As  I  made  no 
reply,  he  went  on — '  For  a  man  whose  fortune  I  wanted  to 
make.  You  killed  the  brother  to  please  me,  that  the  sister 
might  be  a  rich  heiress  for  him  to  marry '  " 

"  But  it  was  all  done  without  my  knowledge,"  Rastignac 
hastily  put  in;  "  and  I  did  everything  in  my  power  to  prevent 
it." 

"So  I  told  him,"  said  the  colonel,  "and  he  paid  no  heed 
to  the  remark,  but  only  grew  more  frantic,  exclaiming:  'Well, 
and  when  I  go  to  that  man's  house,  not  to  ask  him  a  favor, 
but  to  offer  him  my  services,  he  shows  me  the  door !  And 
does  he  think  I  am  going  to  overlook  it  ? '  " 


282  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"He  is  remarkably  touchy,"  said  Rastignac  quietly.  *-I 
did  not  show  h'im  the  door.  I  only  rather  roughly  cut  short 
his  boasting  and  exaggeration." 

"He  then  went  on,"  said  the  colonel,  "to  relate  his  in- 
terview with  you  the  previous  evening ;  the  proposal  he  had 
made  to  give  up  his  place  in  the  criminal  police  in  favor  of  a 
post  as  superintendent — far  more  needed,  in  his  opinion — of 
political  malefactors.  'I  am  sick,'  said  he,  'of  liming  twigs 
to  catch  thieves,  such  an  idiotic  kind  of  game-bird  that  all 
their  tricks  are  stale  to  me.  And,  then,  what  interest  can  I 
find  in  nabbing  men  who  would  steal  a  silver  mug  or  a  few 
bank-notes,  when  there  are  others  only  waiting  for  a  chance 
to  grab  at  the  crown  ?  '  " 

"Very  true,"  said  Rastignac,  with  a  smile,  "if  it  were  not 
for  the  National  Guard,  and  the  army,  and  the  two  Chambers, 
and  the  King  who  can  ride." 

"He  added,"  said  Franchessini,  "that  he  was  not  appre- 
ciated, and,  with  a  reminiscence  of  the  lingo  of  the  past,  that 
he  was  fagged  out  over  mere  child's  play ;  that  he  had  in  him 
very  powerful  qualities  adapted  to  shine  in  a  higher  sphere ; 
that  he  had  trained  a  man  to  take  his  place  j  that  I  must 
positively  see  and  talk  to  you ;  and  that  now  I  was  a  member, 
I  had  a  right  to  speak  and  impress  on  you  the  possible  results 
of  a  refusal." 

"My  dear  fellow,"  said  Rastignac  decisively,  "I  can  but 
say,  as  I  did  at  the  beginning  of  our  conversation,  the  man  is 
a  lunatic,  and  I  have  never  been  afraid  of  a  madman,  whether 
a  cheerful  or  a  furious  one." 

"I  do  not  deny  that  I  myself  saw  great  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  satisfying  his  demand.  However,  I  tried  to  soothe 
him  by  promising  to  see  you,  pointing  out  to  him  that  noth- 
ing could  be  done  in  a  hurry ;  and  in  point  of  fact,  but  for  an 
accessory  circumstance,  I  should  probably  not  have  mentioned 
the  matter  for  some  long  time  to  come." 

"And  that  circumstance ?"  asked  the  minister. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  283 

"Yesterday  morning,"  replied  the  colonel,  "  I  had  a  visit 
from  Maxime,  who  had  just  returned  from  Arcis-sur-Aube " 

"I  know,"  said  R|.stignac.  "  He  mentioned  the  matter  to 
me — an  idea  devoid  of  commonsensc.  Either  the  man  on 
whom  he  wants  to  set  your  bloodhound  is  good  for  something 
— or  he  is  not.  If  he  is  not,  it  is  perfectly  useless  to  employ 
a  dangerous  and  suspected  instrument  to  destroy  the  thing 
that  does  not  exist.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  have  to  do 
with  a  good  man  in  the  right  place,  he  has,  on  the  platform 
of  the  Chamber,  and  in  the  newspapers,  every  means,  not 
only  of  parrying  such  blows  as  we  may  be  able  to  strike  with 
muffled  swords,  but  of  turning  them  against  ourselves.  Take 
it  as  a  general  rule,  in  a  country  like  ours,  crazy  for  publicity, 
wherever  the  hand  of  the  police  is  seen,  even  if  it  were  to 
unveil  the  basest  turpitude,  you  may  be  sure  that  there  will  be 
an  outcry  against  the  Government.  Opinion  in  such  a  case 
behaves  like  the  man  to  whom  some  one  sang  an  air  by  Mozart 
to  prove  how  great  a  composer  he  was.  The  hearer,  conquered 
by  the  evidence,  said  at  last  to  the  singer :  '  Well,  Mozart 
may  be  a  great  musician,  but  you,  my  good  friend,  may  con- 
gratulate yourself  on  having  a  great  cold  ! '  " 

"Indeed,  there  is  much  truth  in  your  remark,"  said  Fran- 
chessini.  "  Still,  the  man  Maxime  wants  to  unmask  can  only 
be  of  resp>ectable  mediocrity ;  and  without  being  able  to  lunge 
with  such  force  as  you  suppose,  he  may  nevertheless  tease  you 
a  good  deal." 

"  I  expect  to  ascertain  the  true  worth  of  your  new  colleague 
ere  long  from  a  quarter  where  I  may  count  on  better  informa- 
tion than  Monsieur  de  Trailles  can  command.  On  this  occa- 
sion he  has  let  himself  in,  and  is  trying  to  make  up  for  lack 
of  skill  by  vehemence.  As  to  your  incubus — whom  I  should 
not,  in  any  case,  employ  to  carry  out  Maxime's  dream — as  he 
seems  not  altogether  useless,  at  least  from  the  point  of  view 
of  your  connection  with  him,  just  to  give  him  an  answer  I 
should  say " 


284  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"  Well,  what  ?"  said  Franchessini,  with  increased  attention. 

"  I  should  tell  him  that,  quite  apart  from  his  criminal  ex- 
perience, which,  as  soon  as  he  heads  the  political  ranks,  might 
expose  him  to  serious  outrages  that  would  recoil  on  us,  there 
are  in  his  past  life  some  very  ugly  records " 

**But  records  only,"  replied  Franchessini.  "For  you  un- 
derstand that  when  he  ventured  into  your  presence  it  was,  so 
to  speak,  in  a  new  skin." 

"I  know  all,"  said  Rastignac.  "You  do  not  suppose  that 
he  is  the  only  police  spy  in  Paris.  After  his  visit  I  made  in- 
quiries, and  I  heard  that  since  1830,  when  he  was  placed  at 
the  head  of  his  department,  he  had  lived  a  middle-class  life  of 
the  strictest  respectability  ;  the  only  fault  I  have  to  find  with 
it  is  that  it  is  too  perfect  a  disguise." 

"Nevertheless "  said  the  colonel. 

"He  is  rich,"  Rastignac  went  on;  "his  salary  is  twelve 
thousand  francs  a  year  from  the  Government ;  with  three 
hundred  thousand  he  inherited  from  Lucien  de  Rubempre, 
and  the  profits  from  a  patent-leather  factory  which  he  has 
near  Gentilly,  and  which  is  paying  very  well.  His  aunt, 
Jacqueline  Collin,  who  keeps  house  with  him,  still  dabbles  in 
certain  dirty  jobs,  from  which,  of  course,  she  derives  large 
profits ;  and  I  have  strong  reason  to  believe  that  they  have 
both  gambled  successfully  on  the  Bourse. 

"  Now  all  this,  my  dear  colonel,  is  too  bucolic  to  lead  up 
to  the  superintendence  of  the  political  police.  Let  him  bestir 
himself  a  little — this  old  '  Germeuil ' — fling  a  little  money 
about,  give  some  dinners !  Why,  the  executioner  could  get 
men  to  dine  with  him  if  he  wished  it." 

"I  quite  agree  with  you,"  said  Franchessini.  "I  think 
that  he  keeps  himself  too  much  curled  up  for  fear  of  attracting 
notice." 

"Tell  him,  on  the  contrary,  to  uncurl ;  and,  since  he  wants 
to  have  a  finger  in  public  business,  he  should  find  some  credit- 
able opportunity  for  being  talked  about.     Does  he  fancy  that, 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  285 

hide  in  what  corner  he  will,  the  press  will  not  know  where  to 
find  him?  Let  him  do  as  the  niggers  do;  they  do  not  try  to 
wash  themselves  whUe,  but  they  have  a  passion  for  bright 
colors,  and  dress  in  scarlet  coats  covered  with  gold  braid.  I 
know  what  I  should  do  in  his  place :  to  appear  thoroughly 
cleaned,  I  should  take  up  with  some  actress,  some  one  very 
notorious,  conspicuous,  before  the  public.  I  do  not  say  that 
I  would  ruin  myself,  but  I  would  seem  to  ruin  myself  for  her, 
with  all  the  airs  of  one  of  those  frenzied  passions  for  which  the 
public  is  always  indulgent,  if  not  sympathetic.  I  should  dis- 
play all  my  luxury  on  this  idol's  account ;  people  would  come, 
not  to  ray  house,  but  to  hers.  Then,  thanks  to  my  mistress, 
I  should  be  endured  at  my  own  table,  and  by  degrees  I  should 
make  a  connection. 

"All  this,  my  dear  fellow,  will  not,  of  course,  make  him  a 
Saint- Vincent  de  Paul — though  he  too  had  been  on  the  gal- 
leys— but  it  would  get  him  classed  among  the  third  or  fourth- 
rate  notabilities — a  man  possible  to  deal  with.  The  road  thus 
laid,  Monsieur  de  Saint-Esieve  might  prove  *  negotiable ; ' 
and  if  he  then  came  to  me,  and  I  were  still  in  power,  I  might 
be  able  to  listen  to  him. 

"  But  at  any  rate,"  added  Rastignac,  going  up  the  steps  to 
return  to  the  drawing-room,  "  make  him  clearly  understand 
that  he  misinterpreted  my  way  of  receiving  him.  That  even- 
ing I  was  naturally  absorbed  in  anxious  reflections." 

"  Be  quite  easy,"  said  Franchessini,  "  I  will  talk  to  him  in 
the  right  way ;  for,  as  I  must  repeat,  he  is  not  a  man  to  drive 
to  extremities ;  there  have  been  incidents  in  our  past  which 
cannot  be  wiped  out." 

And  as  the  minister  made  no  reply,  it  was  sufficiently  ob- 
vious that  he  appreciated  the  observation  at  its  true  value. 

"  You  will  be  here  for  the  King's  "speech,  I  hope,"  said 
Rastignac  to  the  colonel ;  **  we  want  to  work  up  a  little  en- 
thusiasm." 

Franchessini,  before  leaving,  asked  Madame  de  Rastignac 


286  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

to  name  a  day  when  he  might  have  the  honor  of  bringing 
his  wife  to  call. 

"Any  day,"  replied  Augusta,  "but  more  especially  any 
Friday." 

At  the  hour  when  Rastignac,  by  his  wife's  instructions, 
thought  himself  sure  to  find  Madame  de  I'Estorade,  he  did 
not  fail  to  call.  Like  all  who  had  been  present  at  the  little 
scene  to  which  Monsieur  de  RonqueroUes'  remarks  had  given 
rise,  the  minister  had  been  struck  by  the  countess'  agitation  ; 
and  without  concerning  himself  to  gauge  the  nature  or  depth 
of  her  feelings  toward  the  man  who  had  saved  her  child,  he 
was  convinced  that  she  was  at  least  greatly  interested  by  him. 

The  unexpected  feat  of  winning  his  election  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  Government  to  Sallenauve,  all  the  more  be- 
cause at  first  his  nomination  had  hardly  been  taken  seriously. 
Rastignac,  while  affecting  to  discard  with  vehemence  the  idea 
of  an  attack  from  that  side,  in  his  own  mind  did  not  alto- 
gether renounce  the  possibility  of  using  means  which  he  fore- 
saw would  be  difficult  to  handle  ;  he  would  fall  back  on  them 
only  if  it  were  obviously  necessary.  In  this  state  of  things 
Madame  de  I'Estorade  might  be  useful  in  two  ways:  through 
her  it  seemed  easy  to  arrange  an  accidental  meeting  with  the 
new  deputy,  so  as  to  study  him  at  ease  and  ascertain  whether 
there  were  any  single  point  at  which  he  might  prove  accessible 
to  terms. 

And  all  this  would  follow  naturally  from  the  step  the  min- 
ister was  now  taking.  By  seeming  to  call  on  purpose  to 
apologize  for  Monsieur  de  RonqueroUes'  mode  of  speech,  he 
would  allude  in  the  most  natural  manner  possible  to  the  man 
who  had  been  the  occasion  and  the  object  of  it ;  and  the  con- 
versation once  started  on  these  lines,  he  must  be  clumsy  in- 
deed if  he  could  not  achieve  one  or  the  other,  or  possibly 
both,  of  the  results  he  aimed  at. 

Monsieur   de   Rastignac's   plan   of   action   was,    however, 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  287 

destined  to  be  modified.  The  servant,  who  happened  to  be 
speaking  to  the  gatekeeper,  had  just  informed  the  visitor  that 
Madame  de  I'Estorwle  was  not  at  home,  when  Monsieur  de 
I'Estorade  came  in  on  foot,  and,  seeing  the  minister's  carriage, 
rushed  forward.  However  well  a  man  may  stand  with  the 
world,  it  always  seems  a  pity  to  dismiss  a  visitor  of  such  im- 
portance ;  and  the  accountant-general  was  not  the  man  to 
resign  himself  to  such  a  misfortune  without  a  struggle. 

"But  my  wife  will  soon  be  in,"  he  insisted  as  he  saw  his 
house  threatened  with  the  loss  of  such  a  piece  of  good-fortune. 
"She  is  gone  to  Ville  d'Avray  with  her  daughter  and  Mon- 
sieur and  Madame  Octave  de  Camps.  Monsieur  Marie- 
Gaston,  a  great  friend  of  ours — the  charming  poet,  you  know, 
who  married  Louise  de  Chaulieu — has  a  house  there,  where  his 
wife  died.  He  has  never  till  now  set  foot  in  it  since  that 
misfortune." 

"But  in  that  case  Madame  de  I'Estorade's  visit  may  last 
till  late,"  said  Rastignac.  "It  was  to  her,  and  not  to  you, 
my  dear  count,  that  I  came  to  offer  my  apologies  for  the  little 
scene  last  evening,  which  seemed  to  annoy  her  a  good  deal. 
Will  you  kindly  express  to  her  from  me " 

**  I  will  stake  my  head  on  it,  my  dear  sir,  that  by  the  time 
you  turn  the  street  corner,  my  wife  will  be  here;  she  is 
absolutely  punctual  in  everything  she  does,  and  to  me  it  is 
simply  miraculous  that  she  should  be  even  a  few  minutes 
late." 

Seeing  him  so  bent  on  detaining  him,  Rastignac  feared  to 
be  disobliging,  and  made  up  his  mind  to  be  dragged  out  of 
his  carriage,  and  await  the  countess'  return  in  her  drawing- 
room  ;  for,  often  enough,  for  less  than  this  a  faithful  voter  has 
been  lost. 

"So  Madame  Octave  de  Camps  is  in  Paris?"  said  he,  for 
the  sake  of  saying  something. 

"  Yes,  she  made  her  appearance  unexpectedly  without  letting 
my  wife  know,  though  they  are  in  constant  correspondence. 


288  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

Her  husband  has,  I  think,  some  request  to  make  to  you.  You 
have  not  seen  him  ?  " 

**  No ;  but  I  think  I  remember  seeing  his  card." 

**  It  is  some  mining  business  he  is  projecting ;  and  as  I 
have  your  ear,  allow  me  to  tell  you  something  about  it." 

"Excuse  my  interrupting  you,"  said  he,  "we  will  return 
to  the  subject ;  but  at  this  moment  I  am  in  some  uneasiness." 

"How  is  that?" 

"  Your  friend  Sallenauve's  election  has  made  a  devil  of  a 
rumpus.  The  King  was  speaking  of  him  to  me  this  morning, 
and  he  was  not  particularly  delighted  when  I  communicated 
to  him  the  opinion  you  expressed  only  last  evening  as  to  our 
new  adversary." 

"  Bless  me !  But,  as  you  know,  the  tribune  is  a  rock  on 
which  many  a  ready-made  reputation  is  wrecked.  And  I  am 
sorry  too  that  you  should  have  spoken  of  Sallenauve  to  the 
King  as  a  friend  of  ours.  It  is  not  I  who  direct  the  elections. 
You  should  appeal  to  the  minister  of  the  Interior.  I  can  only 
say  that  I  tried  fifty  ways  to  hinder  the  tiresome  man  from 
standing." 

"  But  you  must  see  that  the  King  can  owe  you  no  grudge 
because  you  happen  to  know  a  candidate  so  absolutely  un- 
dreamed of " 

"  No.  But  last  evening  in  your  own  drawing-room  you 
remarked  to  my  wife  that  she  seemed  greatly  interested  in 
him.  I  could  not  contradict  before  others,  because  it  is 
monstrous  to  deny  knowledge  of  a  man  to  whom  we  lie  under 
so  serious  an  obligation.  But,  in  fact,  my  wife  especially  has 
felt  that  obligation  a  burden  since  the  day  when  he  went  off  to 
stand  for  election.     We  have  decided  to  quietly  drop  him." 

"Not,  I  hope,"  interrupted  Rastignac,  "before  you  have 
done  me  the  service  I  came  to  ask." 

"At  your  service,  my  dear  minister,  whatever  it  may  be." 

"To  plunge  in  head  foremost,  then  :  before  seeing  this  man 
in  the  Chamber  I  want  to  take  his  measure,  and  for  that  pur- 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  289 

pose  I  want  to  meet  him.  To  invite  him  to  dine  with  us 
would  be  useless ;  under  the  eye  of  his  party  he  would  not 
dare  to  accept,  evea  if  he  wished.  Beside,  he  would  be  on 
his  guard,  and  I  should  not  see  him  as  he  is.  But  if  we  came 
across  each  other  by  chance,  I  should  find  him,  as  it  were,  in 
undress,  and  could  feel  my  way  to  discover  if  he  has  a  weak 
spot." 

"  If  I  asked  him  to  meet  you  at  dinner  here,  there  would 
be  the  same  difficulty.  Supposing  I  were  to  find  out  some 
evening  that  he  intended  to  call,  and  sent  you  word  in  the 
course  of  the  day?" 

"We  should  be  too  small  a  party,"  said  Rastignac,  "  and 
then  a  separate  conversation  between  two  is  hard  to  manage ; 
the  meeting  is  so  intimate  that  any  tite-a-Ute  betrays  the 
aggravating  circumstance  of  premeditated  arrangement " 

"Stay!"  cried  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  "I  have  a  bright 
idea " 

"If  the  idea  is  really  bright,"  thought  the  minister,  "I 
shall  have  gained  by  not  finding  the  lady  in,  for  she  certainly 
would  not  have  been  so  particularly  anxious  to  help  in  carry- 
ing out  my  wishes." 

"One  day  soon,"  I'Estorade  went  on,  " we  are  giving  a 
little  party,  a  children's  dance.  It  is  a  treat  my  wife,  tired 
of  refusing,  has  promised  our  little  girl,  in  fact,  as  a  festival 
to  celebrate  our  joy  at  still  having  her  with  us.  The  Pre- 
server, as  you  perceive,  is  an  integral  and  indispensable  item, 
and  I  think  I  may  promise  you  noise  enough  to  enable  you  to 
take  your  man  aside  without  any  difficulty,  while  at  a  party  of 
that  kind  premeditation  can  hardly  be  suspected." 

"The  idea  is  certainly  a  good  one — probability  alone  is 
wanting." 

"Probability?" 

"  Certainly.     You  forget  that  I  have  been  married  scarcely 
a  year,  and  that  I  have  no  contingent  to  account  for  my 
presence  that  evening  among  your  party." 
19 


290  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"  That  is  true.     I  had  not  thought  of  that." 

"But  let  me  consider,"  said  the  minister.  "  Among  your 
guests  will  there  be  the  little  Roche-Hugons  ?  " 

**  No  doubt ;  the  children  of  a  man  I  should  esteem  most 
highly  even  if  he  had  not  the  honor  of  so  near  a  relationship 
to  you." 

"Well,  then,  all  is  plain  sailing.  My  wife  will  come  with 
her  sister-in-law,  Madame  de  la  Roche-Hugon,  to  see  her 
nieces  dancing — nothing  is  more  complimentary  on  such 
occasions  than  to  drop  in  without  the  formality  of  an  invita- 
tion ;  and  I,  without  saying  anything  to  my  wife,  am  gallant 
enough  to  come  to  take  her  home." 

'*  Admirable !  "  said  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  "  and  we  by 
this  little  drama  gain  the  delightful  reality  of  your  presence 
here!" 

"  You  are  too  kind,"  said  Rastignac,  shaking  hands  cordi- 
ally. "  But  I  believe  it  will  be  well  to  say  nothing  to  Madame 
de  I'Estorade.  Our  puritan,  if  he  got  wind  of  the  plan,  is 
the  man  to  stay  away.  It  will  be  better  that  I  should  pounce 
on  him  unexpectedly  like  a  tiger  on  its  prey." 

**  Quite  so.     A  surprise  for  everybody  !  " 

"  Then  I  am  off,"  said  Rastignac,  "  for  fear  I  should  drop 
a  word  to  Madame  de  I'Estorade.  I  shall  be  able  to  amuse 
the  King  to-morrow  by  telling  him  of  our  little  plot  and  the 
education  of  children  to  be  political  go-betweens." 

"  Well,  well,"  said  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade  philosophically, 
**  is  not  this  the  whole  history  of  life  :  great  effects  from  small 
causes  ? ' ' 

Rastignac  had  only  just  left  when  Madame  de  I'Estorade, 
her  daughter  Nals,  and  her  friends  Monsieur  and  Madame 
Octave  de  Camps  came  into  the  drawing-room  where  the  con- 
spiracy had  been  laid  against  the  new  deputy's  independence 
— a  plot  here  recorded  at  some  length  as  a  specimen  of  the 
thousand-and-one  trivialities  to  which  a  constitutional  minister 
not  infreq|uently  has  to  attend. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  291 

"And  do  you  not  smell  the  scent  of  a  minister  here?" 
said  Monsieur  de  TEstorade. 

"  Not  such  a  very  «[elicious  scent,  I  am  sure,"  replied  Mon- 
sieur de  Camps,  who,  as  a  Legitimist,  belonged  to  the  Oppo- 
sition. 

"  That  is  a  matter  of  taste,"  said  the  peer.  "  My  dear,", 
he  went  on,  addressing  his  wife,  "  you  have  come  so  late  that 
you  have  missed  a  distinguished  visitor." 

"  Who  is  that?"  the  countess  asked  indifferently. 

"  The  minister  of  Public  Works,  who  came  to  offer  you  an 
apology.  He  had  noted  with  regret  the  unpleasant  impres- 
sion made  upon  you  by  the  theories  put  forward  by  that 
wretch  of  a  Ronquerolles." 

"That  is  disturbing  himself  for  a  very  small  matter,"  re- 
plied Madame  de  I'Estorade,  who  was  far  from  sharing  her 
husband's  excitement. 

"At  any  rate,"  replied  he,  "  it  was  very  polite  of  him  to 
have  noticed  the  matter." 

Madame  de  I'Estorade,  without  seeming  to  care  much, 
asked  what  had  passed  in  the  course  of  the  visit. 

"We  discussed  indifferent  subjects,"  said  Monsieur  de 
I'Estorade  craftily.  "  However,  I  took  the  opportunity  of 
getting  a  word  in  on  the  subject  of  Monsieur  de  Camps' 
business. ' ' 

"Much  obliged,"  said  Octave,  with  a  bow.  "If  only 
you  could  have  persuaded  the  gentleman  to  grant  me  a  sight 
of  his  private  secretary,  who  is  as  invisible  as  himself,  be- 
tween them  they  might  arrange  to  give  me  an  interview." 

"You  must  not  be  annoyed  with  him,"  said  Monsieur  de 
I'Estorade.  "Though  his  office  is  not  strictly  political,  Ras- 
tignac  has,  of  course,  been  much  taken  up  with  election 
matters.  Now  that  he  is  freer,  we  will,  if  you  like,  call  on 
him  together  one  morning." 

"  I  hesitate  to  trouble  you  about  a  matter  that  ought  to  go 
smoothly  of  itself;  I  am  not  asking  a  favor.     I  never  will  ask 


292  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

one  of  this  Government ;  but  since  Monsieur  de  Rastignac  is 
the  dragon  in  charge  of  the  metallic  treasures  of  the  soil, 
I  am  bound  to  go  through  the  regular  channel  and  apply  to 
him." 

"  We  can  settle  all  that,  and  I  have  started  the  thing  in 
the  right  direction,"  replied  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade. 

Then,  to  change  the  conversation,  he  said  to  Madame  de 
Camps — 

"  Well,  and  the  chalet,  is  it  really  such  a  marvel?" 

**0h,"  said  Madame  Octave,  "it  is  a  fascinating  place; 
you  can  have  no  idea  of  such  elegant  perfection  and  such  ideal 
comfort." 

"  And  Marie-Gaston  ?  "  asked  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  much 
as  Orgon  asks,  "And  Tartuffe?" — but  with  far  less  anxious 
curiosity. 

"  He  was — I  will  not  say  quite  calm,"  replied  Madame  de 
I'Estorade*,  "  but  certainly  quite  master  of  himself.  His  be- 
havior was  all  the  more  satisfactory  because  the  day  began 
with  a  serious  disappointment." 

"What  happened?"  asked  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade. 

"  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve  could  not  come  with  him,"  cried 
NaTs,  making  it  her  business  to  reply. 

She  was  one  of  those  children,  brought  up  in  a  hot-house, 
who  intervene  rather  oftener  than  they  ought  in  matters  that 
are  discussed  in  their  presence. 

"Nai's,"  said  her  mother,  "go  and  ask  Mary  to  put  your 
hair  up." 

The  child  perfectly  understood  that  she  was  sent  away  to 
her  English  nurse  for  having  spoken  out  of  season,  and  she 
went  off  with  a  little  pout. 

"This  morning,"  said  Madame  de  I'Estorade,  as  soon  as 
Nais  had  closed  the  door,  "  Monsieur  Marie-Gaston  and  Mon- 
sieur de  Sallenauve  were  to  have  set  out  together  for  Ville- 
d'Avray,  to  receive  us  there,  as  had  been  arranged  ;  last  even- 
ing they  had  a  visit  from  the  organist  who  was  so  active  ia 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  293 

promoting  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve's  election — he  came  to 
hear  the  Italian  housekeeper  sing  and  decide  as  to  whether  she 
were  fit  to  appear  in  public." 

"To  be  sure!"  said  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade.  "Now  we 
have  ceased  to  make  statues,  we  must  quarter  her  somewhere  !  " 

"As  you  say,"  answered  his  wife,  rather  tartly.  "Mon-- 
sieur  de  Sallenauve,  to  silence  slander,  was  anxious  to  enable 
her  to  follow  out  her  own  idea  of  going  on  the  stage ;  but  he 
wished  first  to  have  the  opinion  of  a  judge  who  is  said  to  be 
remarkably  competent.  The  two  gentlemen  went  with  the 
organist  to  Saint-Sulpice,  where  the  handsome  Italian  sings 
every  evening  in  the  services  for  the  month  of  Mary.  After 
hearing  her — *  Tliat  contralto  has  at  least  sixty  thousand  francs 
in  her  throat  !  '  the  organist  remarked." 

"Just  the  income  I  derive  from  my  forges!"  remarked 
Octave  de  Camps. 

"On  returning  home,"  Madame  de  I'Estorade  went  on, 
"  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve  told  his  housekeeper  of  the  opinion 
pronounced  on  her  performance,  and  with  the  utmost  circum- 
spection he  insinuated  that  she  must  now  soon  be  thinking  of 
making  her  living,  as  she  had  always  intended.  *  Yes,  I  think 
the  time  is  come,'  said  Signora  Luigia.  Then  she  closed  the 
conversation,  saying,  '  We  will  speak  of  it  again.'  This  morn- 
ing at  breakfast  they  were  much  surprised  at  having  seen 
nothing  of  the  signora,  who  was  habitually  an  early  riser. 
Fancying  she  must  be  ill,  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve  sent  a 
woman  who  comes  to  do  the  coarser  cleaning  to  knock  at  her 
door.  No  answer.  More  and  more  anxious,  the  two  gentle- 
men went  themselves  to  find  out  what  was  happening. 

"After  knocking  and  calling  in  vain,  they  determined  to 
turn  the  key  and  go  in.  In  the  room — nobody;  but  instead, 
a  letter  addressed  to  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve.  In  this  letter 
the  Italian  said  that,  knowing  herself  to  be  in  his  way,  she 
was  retiring  to  the  house  of  a  woman  she  knew,  and  thanked 
him  for  all  his  kindness  to  her." 


294  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"  The  bird  had  felt  its  wings  !  "  said  Monsieur  de  I'Estor- 
ade.     "  It  had  flown  away. " 

"That  was  not  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve's  idea,"  said  the 
countess.  "  He  does  not  for  an  instant  suspect  her  of  an  im- 
pulse of  ingratitude.  Before  explaining  to  the  meeting  of 
voters  the  relation  in  which  they  stood.  Monsieur  de  Salle- 
nauve,  having  ascertained  that  he  would  be  questioned  about 
it,  had  with  great  delicacy  written  asking  her  whether  this 
public  avowal  would  not  be  too  painful  to  her.  She  replied 
that  she  left  it  entirely  to  him.  At  the  same  time,  he  no- 
ticed on  his  return  that  she  was  out  of  spirits,  and  treated  him 
with  more  than  usual  formality;  whence  he  now  concludes 
that,  fancying  herself  a  burden  to  him,  in  one  of  those  fits  of 
folly  and  temper  of  which  she  is  peculiarly  capable,  she  has 
thought  it  incumbent  on  her  to  leave  his  house  without  allow- 
ing him  in  any  way  to  concern  himself  with  providing  for  her 
in  the  future." 

"Well,  well,"  said  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  **  luck  go  with 
her!     A  good  riddance." 

"  Neither  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve  nor  Monsieur  Marie- 
Gaston  takes  such  a  stoical  view  of  the  matter.  Knowing  the 
woman's  determined  and  headstrong  nature,  they  fear  lest  she 
should  have  laid  violent  hands  on  her  life — an  idea  which  her 
previous  history  justifies.  Or  else  they  fear  that  she  has  been 
ill  advised." 

"I  adhere  to  my  opinion,"  replied  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade. 
"And  in  spite  of  immaculate  virtue  on  both  sides,  I  maintain 
that  he  has  been  caught  by  her." 

"At  any  rate,"  remarked  Madame  de  I'Estorade,  empha- 
sizing the  word,  "  it  does  not  seem  that  she  has  been  caught^ 

"I  do  not  agree  with  you,"  said  Madame  de  Camps. 
"Flying  from  a  person  is  more  than  often  a  proof  of  very 
true  love." 

Madame  de  I'Estorade  looked  at  her  friend  with  some 
vexation,  and  a  faint  color  flushed  her  cheeks.     But  this  no 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  293 

one  noticed,  the  servant  having  thrown  the  double  doors  open 
and  announced  that  dinner  was  served. 

After  dinner,  they  proposed  to  go  to  the  play ;  it  is  one  of 
the  amusements  that  Parisians  most  miss  in  the  country ;  and 
Monsieur  Octave  de  Camps,  whose  odious  ironworks,  as 
Madame  de  I'Estorade  called  them,  had  made  him  a  sort  of. 
"  Wild  Man  of  the  Woods,"  had  come  to  town  eager  for  this 
diversion,  for  which  his  wife,  a  serious  and  stay-at-home 
woman,  was  far  from  sharing  his  taste. 

So  when  Monsieur  de  Camps  spoke  of  going  to  the  Porte 
Saint-Martin  to  see  a  fairy  piece  that  was  attracting  all  Paris, 
his  wife  replied — 

"Neither  I  nor  Madame  de  I'Estorade  have  any  wish  to  go 
out.  We  are  very  tired  with  our  expedition,  and  will  give  up 
our  places  to  NaTs  and  Rene,  who  will  enjoy  the  marvels  of 
the  'Rose-fairy'  far  more  than  we  should." 

The  two  children  awaited  the  ratification  of  this  plan  with 
such  anxiety  as  may  be  imagined.  Their  mother  made  no 
objection  ;  and  thus,  a  few  minutes  later,  the  two  ladies,  who 
since  Madame  de  Camps'  arrival  in  Paris  had  not  once  been 
able  to  escape  from  their  surroundings  for  a  single  chat,  found 
themselves  left  to  an  evening  of  confidential  talk. 

"Not  at  home  to  anybody,"  said  Madame  de  I'Estorade  to 
Lucas,  when  the  party  were  fairly  oflF. 

Then,  taking  as  her  starting-point  the  last  words  spoken  by 
Madame  de  Camps  before  dinner — 

"  You  really  have,  my  dear  friend,"  said  she,  "a  stock  of 
the  sharpest  little  arrows,  which  go  as  straight  to  their  mark 
as  so  many  darts." 

**  Now  that  we  are  alone,"  replied  Madame  Octave,  "  I  am 
going  to  deal  you  blows  with  a  bludgeon  ;  for,  as  you  may 
suppose,  I  have  not  traveled  two  hundred  leagues  and  aban- 
doned the  care  of  our  business,  which  Monsieur  de  Camps 
has  trained  me  to  manage  very  competently  when  he  is  absent, 
only  to  tell  you  sugared  truths." 


296  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"  I  am  willing  to  hear  anything  from  you,"  said  Madame 
de  I'Estorade,  pressing  her  friend's  hand — her  dear  conscience- 
keeper,  as  she  called  her. 

"Your  last  letter  simply  frightened  me." 

**  Why  ?  Because  I  myself  told  you  that  this  man  frightened 
me,  and  that  I  would  find  some  means  of  keeping  him  at  a 
distance?" 

"Yes.  Until  then  I  had  doubted  what  my  advice  ought  to 
be ;  but  from  that  moment  I  became  so  uneasy  about  you,  that 
in  spite  of  all  Monsieur  de  Camps'  objections  to  my  making 
the  journey,  I  was  determined  to  come — and  here  I  am." 

"  But,  I  assure  you,  I  do  not  understand " 

"  Well,  supposing  Monsieur  de  Camps,  Monsieur  Marie- 
Gaston — or  even  Monsieur  de  Rastignac,  though  his  visits 
intoxicate  your  husband  with  delight — were  either  of  them  to 
get  into  the  habit  of  regular  callings  would  it  disturb  you  as 
much?" 

"  No,  certainly  not ;  but  neither  of  these  men  has  any 
such  claim  on  me  as  this  man  has." 

"  Do  you  believe,  tell  me  truly,  that  Monsieur  de  Salle- 
nauve  is  in  love  with  you? " 

"No.  I  believe,  I  am  perfectly  certain,  that  he  is  not; 
but  I  also  believe  that  on  my  part " 

"  We  will  come  to  that  presently.  What  I  want  to  know 
now  is  whether  you  wish  that  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve  should 
fall  in  love  with  you?" 

"God  forbid?" 

"  Well,  an  excellent  way  of  drawing  him  to  your  heel  is  to 
hurt  his  conceit,  to  be  unjust  and  ungrateful — to  cpmpel  him, 
in  short,  to  think  about  you." 

"But  is  not  that  a  rather  far-fetched  notion,  my'dear?" 

"  Why,  my  dear  child,  have  you  never  observed  that  men, 
if  they  have  any  subtlety  of  feeling,  are  more  readily  caught 
by  severity  than  by  softness ;  that  we  plant  ourselves  most 
solidly  in  their  minds  by  a  stern  attitude ;  that  they  are  very 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  297 

like  those  little  lap-dogs,  who  never  want  to  bite  till  you 
snatch  away  your  hand  ?  " 

"  If  that  were  tf>^  case,  every  man  we  scorn  and  never  even 
think  of  glancing  at  would  be  a  lover !  " 

"  Now,  my  dear,  do  not  put  nonsense  into  my  mouth. 
Though  he  may  not  love  you,  he  loves  your  semblance;  and, 
as  you  said  the  other  day,  wittily  enough,  what  is  there  to 
prevent  him,  now  that  the  other  is  evidently  lost  beyond 
recall,  from  a  ricochet  into  love  for  you?  " 

**  But,  on  the  contrary,  he  has  better  hopes  than  ever  of 
finding  the  lady,  by  the  help  of  a  very  clever  seeker  who  is 
making  inquiry." 

"  Well  and  good  ;  but  supposing  he  should  not  find  her  for 
a  long  time  to  come,  are  you  to  spend  the  time  in  getting  him 
on  your  hands?" 

"  Dear  Dame  Morality,  I  do  not  at  all  accept  your  theory, 
at  any  rate  so  far  as  he  is  concerned :  he  will  be  very  busy ; 
he  will  be  far  more  devoted  to  the  Chamber  than  to  me ;  he  is 
a  man  of  high  self-resp)ect,  who  would  be  disgusted  by  such 
mean  behavior  on  my  part,  and  think  it  supremely  unjust  and 
ungrateful ;  and  if  I  try  to  put  two  feet  of  distance  between 
us,  he  will  put  four,  you  may  be  quite  certain." 

**  But  you,  my  dear?"  said  her  friend. 

"How— I?" 

*'  Yes — you  who  are  not  so  busy,  who  have  not  the  Chamber 
to  absorb  you,  who  have — I  will  allow — plenty  of  self-respect, 
but  who  know  as  much  about  affairs  of  the  heart  as  a  school- 
girl or  a  wet-nurse — what  is  to  become  of  you  under  the  per- 
ilous regimen  you  propose  to  follow?" 

"  I !  If  I  do  not  love  him  when  I  see  him,  I  shall  still 
less  love  him  when  he  is  absent." 

"  So  that  if  you  found  him  accepting  this  ostracism  with 
indifference,  your  woman's  pride  would  not  be  in  the  least 
shocked?" 

"  Of  course  not ;  it  is  that  at  which  I  aim." 


298  THE   DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"And  NaTs,  who  dreams  only  of  him,  and  who  will  say  even 
more  emphatically  than  on  the  day  when  he  first  dined  with 
you :  *  How  well  he  talks,  mamma  !  '  " 

"  Oh  !  if  you  take  a  child's  silly  chatter  into  account " 

"And  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  who  annoys  you  already 
when,  in  his  blind  devotion  to  party  spirit,  he  utters  some  ill- 
natured  insinuation  about  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve — will  you 
silence  him  on  every  occasion  when  he  is  perpetually  talking 
about  this  man,  denying  his  talents,  his  public  spirit?  You 
know  the  verdict  men  always  pronounce  on  those  who  do  not 
agree  with  their  opinions." 

"In  short,"  said  Madame  de  I'Estorade,  "  you  mean  to  say 
that  I  shall  never  be  so  much  tempted  to  think  of  him  as  when 
he  has  gone  quite  out  of  my  ken  ?  " 

"  What  has  happened  to  you  once,  my  dear,  when  he  fol- 
lowed you  about,  and  his  sudden  disappearance  surprised  you, 
like  the  silence  when  a  drum  that  has  been  deafening  you  for 
an  hour  on  end  abruptly  stops  its  clatter." 

"  In  that  there  was  reason.     His  absence  upset  a  plan." 

"Listen  to  me,  my  dear,"  said  Madame  de  Camps  gravely; 
"I  have  read  and  re-read  your  letters.  In  them  you  were 
more  natural  and  less  argumentative ;  and  they  left  me  one 
clear  impression — that  Monsieur  Sallenauve  had  certainly 
touched  your  heart  if  he  had  not  invaded  it." 

At  a  gesture  of  denial  from  Madame  de  I'Estorade,  her 
strenuous  Mentor  went  on — 

"I  know  you  have  fortified  yourself  against  such  a  notion. 
And  how  could  you  admit  to  me  what  you  have  so  carefully 
concealed  from  yourself?  But  the  thing  that  is,  is.  You 
cannot  feel  the  magnetic  influence  of  a  man  ;  you  cannot  be 
aware  of  his  gaze — even  without  meeting  his  eye  ;  you  cannot 
exclaim,  'You  see,  madame,  I  am  invulnerable  to  love,'  with- 
out having  been  more  or  less  hit  already.'' 

"But  so  many  things  have  happened  since  I  wrote  those 
preposterous  things  !  " 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  299 

"It  is  true,  he  was  only  a  sculptor,  and  now,  in  the  course 
of  time,  he  may  possibly  be  in  the  Ministry,  like — I  will  not 
say  Monsieur  de  Rristignac,  for  that  is  not  saying  much,  but 
like  Canalis  the  great  poet." 

"I  like  a  sermon  to  have  some  conclusion,"  said  Madame 
de  I'Estorade  pettishly. 

"You  say  to  me,"  replied  Madame  de  Camps,  "exactly 
what  Vergniaud  said  to  Robespierre  on  the  31st  of  May,  for 
in  the  solitude  of  our  wilderness  I  have  been  reading  the  his- 
tory of  the  French  Revolution ;  and  I  reply  in  Robespierre's 
words,  '  Yes,  I  am  coming  to  the  conclusion  ' — a  conclusion 
against  your  pride  as  a  woman,  who  having  reached  the  age  of 
two-and-thirty  without  suspecting  what  love  might  be  even  in 
married  life,  cannot  admit  that  at  so  advanced  an  age  she 
should  yield  to  the  universal  law;  against  the  memory  of 
all  your  sermons  to  Louise  de  Chaulieu,  proving  to  her  that 
there  is  no  misfortune  so  great  as  a  passion  that  captures  the 
heart — very  much  as  if  you  were  to  argue  that  an  inflammation 
of  the  lungs  was  the  worst  imprudence  a  sick  man  could 
commit ;  against  your  appalling  ignorance,  which  conceives 
that  merely  saying  'I  will not^  in  a  resolute  tone  is  stronger 
than  an  inclination  complicated  by  a.  concurrence  of  circum- 
stances from  which  the  cleverest  woman  could  scarcely  shake 
herself  free." 

"But  the  practical  conclusion?"  said  Madame  de  I'Esto- 
rade, impatiently  patting  her  knee  with  her  pretty  hand. 

"  My  conclusion  is  this,"  replied  her  friend.  "I  do  not 
really  see  any  danger  of  your  drowning  unless  you  are  so 
foolish  as  to  try  to  stem  the  stream.  You  are  firm-tempered, 
you  have  good  principles,  and  are  religious  j  you  worship  your 
children,  and  for  their  sakes  you  esteem  their  father,  Monsieur 
de  I'Estorade,  who  has  now  for  more  than  fifteen  years  been 
the  companion  of  your  life.  With  so  much  ballast  you  will 
not  upset,  and,  believe  me,  you  are  well  afloat." 

"Well,  then?"  said  Madame  de  I'Estorade. 


300  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"  Well,  then,  there  is  no  necessity  for  violent  efforts,  with 
very  doubtful  results,  in  my  opinion,  to  preserve  an  unmoved 
attitude  under  impossible  conditions,  when  you  have  already 
to  a  great  extent  abandoned  it.  You  are  quite  sure  that  Mon- 
sieur de  Sallenauve  will  never  think  of  inviting  you  to  take  a 
step  further;  you  have  said  that  he  is  leagues  away  from 
thinking  of  such  a  thing." 

"  Then  I  am  to  make  a  friend  of  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve  ?  " 
said  Madame  de  I'Estorade  pensively. 

"Yes,  my  dear,  to  save  yourself  from  his  becoming  a  fixed 
idea — a  regret — a  remorse — three  things  which  poison  life." 

**  With  the  world  looking  on ;  with  my  husband,  who  has 
already  had  one  fit  of  jealousy  !  " 

"  My  dear,  you  may  compromise  yourself  just  as  much  or 
more  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  by  your  efforts  to  mislead  it  as 
by  the  liberty  you  frankly  allow  yourself.  Do  you  imagine, 
for  instance,  that  your  abrupt  departure  last  evening  from  the 
Rastignacs',  in  order  to  avoid  any  discussion  of  your  obliga- 
tions to  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve,  can  have  escaped  observa- 
tion ? 

"Your  husband  is,  I  think,  somev/hat  altered,  and  not  for 
the  better.  What  used  to  be  attractive  in  him  was  the  perfect 
respect,  the  unlimited  deference  he  showed  for  your  person, 
your  ideas,  your  impressions,  everything  about  you  ;  that  sort 
of  dog-like  submissiveness  gave  him  a  dignity  he  had  no  idea 
of,  for  there  is  real  greatness  in  knowing  how  to  obey  and  to 
admire.  I  may  be  mistaken,  but  I  think  politics  have  spoilt 
him ;  as  you  cannot  fill  his  seat  in  the  Upper  Chamber,  it  has 
dawned  on  his  mind  that  he  could  quite  well  live  without 
you.  In  your  place  I  should  keep  a  sharp  eye  on  such  fancies 
for  independence ;  and  since  this  question  is  the  order  of  the 
day,  I  should  make  it  a  cabinet  question  on  the  point  of  Mon- 
sieur de  Sallenauve." 

"But  do  you  know,  my  dear  friend,"  said  Madame  de 
I'Estorade,  laughing,  "  that  you  are  delightfully  pestilential, 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  801 

and  that  if  I  acted  on  your  advice  I  should  bring  down  fire 
and  sword  ?" 

"Not  at  all,  my  .child;  I  am  simply  a  woman  of  five-and- 
forty,  who  has  always  looked  on  things  in  their  practical 
aspect ;  and  I  did  not  marry  my  husband,  to  whom  I  am 
passionately  attached,  till  I  was  well  assured,  by  putting  him 
to  a  severe  test,  that  he  also  was  worthy  of  my  esteem.  It  is 
not  I  who  make  life  what  it  is ;  I  take  it  as  I  find  it,  trying  to 
bring  order  and  possibility  into  all  the  incidents  that  may 
occur.  I  am  not  frantic  passion  like  Louise  de  Chaulieu,  nor 
am  I  exaggerated  good  sense  like  Renee  de  I'Estorade.  I  am 
a  sort  of  Jesuit  in  petticoats,  convinced  that  rather  wide  sleeves 
are  more  serviceable  than  sleeves  that  are  too  tight  about  the 
wrists ;  and  I  never  set  my  heart  on  the  Quest  of  the  Abso- 
lute." 

At  this  moment  Lucas  opened  the  drawing-room  door  and 
announced  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve. 

As  Sallenauve  took  his  seat  in  a  chair  the  man  pushed  for- 
ward for  him — 

"You  see,"  Madame  de  Camps  whispered  to  her  friend, 
**  the  servants  even  have  an  instinctive  idea  that  he  is  not  a 
mere  *  anybody.'  " 

Madame  de  Camps,  who  had  never  met  the  new  deputy, 
devoted  her  whole  attention  to  studying  him,  and  saw  no 
reason  to  repent  of  preaching  that  he  was  not  to  be  outraged. 
Sallenauve  accounted  for  his  visit  by  his  anxious  curiosity  to 
know  how  matters  had  gone  off  at  Ville-d'Avray ;  if  he  should 
hear  that  Marie-Gaston  had  been  too  much  upset,  he  was  quite 
prepared,  though  it  was  already  late,  to  set  out  at  once  and 
join  him. 

As  to  the  business  that  had  occupied  his  day,  he  had  as  yet 
had  no  form  of  success.  He  had  availed  himself  of  his  title 
of  deputy,  a  sort  of  universal  pass-key,  to  interview  the  pre- 
fect of  police,  who  had  referred  him  to  Monsieur  de  Saint- 
Esteve  of  the  detective  department.     Sallenauve,  knowing,  as 


302  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

all  Paris  knew,  the  past  history  of  this  man,  was  amazed  to 
find  him  an  official  of  good  manners.  But  the  great  detective 
had  not  given  him  much  hope. 

"A  woman  hidden  in  Paris,"  said  he,  "is  literally  an  eel 
hidden  in  the  deepest  hole." 

He  himself,  with  the  help  of  Jacques  Bricheteau,  meant  to 
continue  the  search  during  the  whole  of  the  next  day ;  but  if, 
by  the  evening,  neither  he  nor  the  great  official  inquisitor  had 
discovered  anything,  he  was  determined  to  go  then  to  Ville- 
d'Avray  to  be  with  Marie-Gaston,  concerning  whom  he  was 
far  more  uneasy  than  Madame  de  I'Estorade. 

As  he  said  good-night,  before  the  return  of  Monsieur  de 
I'Estorade  and  Monsieur  de  Camps — who  was  to  call  for  his 
wife — 

"  Do  not  forget,"  said  Madame  de  I'Estorade,  "  that  NaTs' 
party  is  on  the  evening  after  to-morrow.  You  will  offend  her 
mortally  if  you  fail  to  appear.  Try  to  persuade  Marie-Gaston 
to  come  with  you;  it  will  be  a  little  diversion  at  any  rate." 

On  coming  in  from  the  theatre.  Monsieur  Octave  de  Camps 
declared  that  it  would  be  many  a  long  day  before  he  would 
ever  go  to  another  fairy  extravaganza.  NaTs,  on  the  contrary, 
still  bewitched  by  the  marvels  she  had  seen,  began  to  give  an 
eager  report  of  the  play,  which  showed  how  deeply  it  had 
struck  her  young  imagination. 

As  Madame  de  Camps  went  away  with  her  husband,  she 
remarked — 

"  That  little  girl  would  make  me  very  anxious ;  she  re- 
minds me  of  Moina  d'Aiglemont.  Madame  de  I'Estorade 
has  brought  her  on  too  fast,  and  I  should  not  be  surprised  if 
in  the  future  she  gave  them  some  trouble." 

It  is  difficult  to  fix  the  exact  date  in  the  history  of  modern 
manners,  when  a  sort  of  new  religion  had  its  rise  which  may 
be  called  the  worship  of  children.  Nor  would  it  be  any  easier 
to  determine  what  the  influence  was  under  which  this  cult 
jicquired  the  extensive  vogue  it  has  pow  attained.     Children 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR   ARCIS.  303 

now  fill  the  place  in  the  family  which  was  held  among  the 
ancients  by  the  household  gods;  and  the  individual  who 
should  fail  to  share  this  devotion  would  be  thought  not  so 
much  a  fractious  and  cross-grained  person,  perverse  and  con- 
tradictory, as  simply  an  atheist.  The  influence  of  Rousseau, 
however — who  for  a  while  persuaded  all  mothers  to  suckle 
their  infants — has  now  died  out ;  still,  he  must  be  a  superficial 
observer  who  would  find  a  contradiction  in  this  to  the  next 
remark.  Any  one  who  has  ever  been  present  at  the  tremen- 
dous deliberations  held  over  the  choice  of  a  wet-nurse  to  live 
in  the  house,  and  understood  the  position  this  queen  of  the 
nursery  at  once  takes  up  in  the  arrangements  of  the  household, 
may  be  quite  convinced  that  the  mother's  renunciation  of  her 
rights  is  on  her  part  only  the  first  of  many  acts  of  devotion 
and  self-sacrifice.  The  doctor  and  the  accoucheur,  whom  she 
does  not  try  to  influence,  declare  that  she  is  not  equal  to  the 
task ;  and  it  is  an  understood  thing  that,  solely  for  the  sake 
of  the  being  she  has  brought  into  the  world,  she  resigns 
herself  to  the  inevitable.  But,  then,  having  secured  for  the 
child  what  schoolmasters  describe  as  excellent  and  abundant 
board,  what  frantic  care  and  anxiety  surround  it !  How  often 
is  the  doctor  called  up  at  night  to  certify  that  the  mildest  in- 
digestion is  not  an  attack  of  much-dreaded  croup !  How 
often  is  he  snatched  away  from  the  bedside  of  the  dying,  and 
urgently  plied  with  agonized  questions  by  a  mother  in  tears, 
who  fancies  that  her  cherub  looks  "peeky"  or  "pasty,"  or 
has  not  soiled  its  napkins  quite  as  usual ! 

At  last  the  baby  has  got  over  this  first  difficult  stage ;  re- 
leased from  the  wet-nurse's  arms,  it  no  longer  wears  a  King 
Henry  IV.  hat,  decked  with  plumes  and  tufts  like  an  Andalusian 
mule;  but  then  the  child,  and  its  companions,  still  remind  us 
of  Spain  :  dedicated  to  the  Virgin  and  arrayed  in  white,  they 
might  be  taken  for  young  statues  of  the  Commendatore  in  the 
opera  of  "  Don  Giovanni."  Others,  reminding  us  of  Walter 
Scott  and  the  "  White  Lady,"  iQok  as  if  they  hjid  cotn^  down 


S04  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

from  the  Highlands,  of  which  they  display  the  costume — the 
short  jacket  and  bare  knees. 

More  often  the  sweet  idols  supply  in  their  dress  what  M. 
Ballanche  would  have  called  a  palingenesis  of  national  history. 
As  we  see,  in  the  Tuileries,  hair  cut  square  a  la  Charles  VI., 
the  velvet  doublets,  lace  and  embroidered  collars,  the  cavalier 
hats,  short  capes,  ruffles  and  shoes  with  roses,  of  Louis  XIII. 
and  Louis  XIV.,  we  can  go  through  a  course  of  French 
history  related  by  tailors  and  dressmakers  with  stricter  exacti- 
tude than  by  Mezeray  and  President  Henault. 

Next  come  anxieties,  if  not  as  to  the  health,  at  any  rate  as 
to  the  constitution  of  our  little  household  gods — for  they  are 
always  so  delicate  ;  and  to  strengthen  them,  a  journey  every 
year  to  the  sea,  or  the  country,  or  the  Pyrenees,  is  imperatively 
ordered.  And,  of  course,  during  the  five  or  six  months  spent 
by  the  mother  in  these  hygienic  wanderings,  the  husband,  if 
he  is  detained  in  Paris,  must  make  the  best  of  his  widowhood, 
of  his  empty  and  dismantled  house,  and  the  upheaval  of  all 
his  habits. 

Winter,  however,  brings  the  family  home  again ;  but  do 
you  suppose  that  these  precious  darlings,  puffed  up  with  pre- 
cocity and  importance,  can  be  amused,  like  the  children  born 
in  the  ages  of  heartless  infanticide,  with  rattles,  dolls,  and 
twopenny  Punches  ?  What  next,  indeed !  The  boys  must 
have  ponies,  cigarettes,  and  novels;  the  little  girls  must 
be  allowed  to  play  on  a  grand  scale  at  being  grown-up  mistress 
of  the  house ;  they  give  afternoon  dances,  and  evening  parties 
with  the  genuine  Guignol  puppets  from  the  Champs-Elysees, 
or  Robert  Houdin  promised  on  the  invitation  card ;  nor  are 
these  like  Lambert  and  Moli^re,  you  may  depend  on  it ;  once 
on  the  programme,  they  are  secured. 

Finally,  now  and  again  these  little  autocrats,  like  NaTs  de 
I'Estorade,  get  leave  to  give  a  party  on  a  sufficiently  grown-up 
scale  to  make  it  necessary  to  engage  a  few  police  to  guard  the 
door;  while  at  Nattier's,  at  Delisle's,  and  at  Provost's  the 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  AH  CIS.  305 

event  casts  its  shadow  before  in  the  purchase  of  silks,  artificial 
flowers,  and  real  bouquets  for  the  occasion.  From  what  we 
have  seen  of  NaTs,  it  will  be  understood  that  no  one  was  more 
capable  than  she  of  filling  the  part  and  the  duties  that  devolved 
on  her  by  her  mother's  temporary  abdication  in  her  favor  of 
all  her  power  and  authority. 

This  abdication  had  dated  from  some  days  before  the  even- 
ing now  arrived ;  for  it  was  Mademoiselle  NaTs  de  I'Estorade 
who,  in  her  own  name,  had  requested  the  guests  to  do  her  the 
honor  of  spending  the  evening  with  her ;  and  as  Madame  de 
I'Estorade  would  not  carry  the  parody  to  such  a  length  as  to 
allow  the  cards  to  be  printed,  NaVs  had  spent  several  days 
in  writing  these  invitations,  taking  care  to  add  in  the  corner 
the  sacramental  formula  "  Dancing." 

Nothing  could  be  stranger,  or,  as  Madame  Octave  de  Camps 
would  have  said,  more  alarming  than  the  perfect  coolness  of 
this  little  girl  of  thirteen,  standing,  as  she  had  seen  her 
mother  do  on  similar  occasions,  at  the  drawing-room  door, 
and  toning  the  warmth  of  her  welcome  to  the  finest  shades  as  she 
received  her  guests,  from  the  most  affectionate  cordiality  to  a 
coolness  verging  on  disdain.  With  her  bosom  friends  she 
warmly  shook  hands  in  the  English  fashion  ;  for  others,  she  had 
smiles  graduated  for  different  degrees  of  intimacy  ;  a  bow  or 
nod  to  those  whom  she  did  not  know  or  care  for ;  and  from 
time  to  time  the  most  amusing  little  motherly  air  and  pet 
words  for  the  tiny  ones  who  are  necessarily  included  in  these 
juvenile  routs,  difficult  and  perilous  as  such  company  is  to 
manage. 

To  the  fathers  and  mothers  of  her  guests,  as  the  party 
was  not  given  for  them,  and  she  was  acting  strictly  on  the 
Evangelical  precept,  Sinite parvulos  venire  ad  me,  NaTs  aimed 
at  distant  but  respectful  politeness.  But  when  Lucas,  revers- 
ing the  usual  order  of  things,  in  obedience  to  her  instructions, 
announced:  "  Mesdemoiselles  de  la  Roche-Hugon,  Madame 
la  Baronne  de  la  Roche-Hugon,  and  Madame  la  Comtesse  de 
20 


306  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

Rastignac,"  the  cunning  little  puss  abandoned  this  studied 
reserve;  she  rushed  forward  to  meet  the  minister's  wife,  and, 
with  the  prettiest  possible  grace,  she  seized  her  hand  and 
kissed  it. 

Nais  could  not  accept  every  invitation  to  dance  which  the 
elegant  little  dandies  vied  with  each  other  in  pressing  on  her, 
and,  indeed,  she  got  a  little  confused  over  the  order  of  her 
engagements.  In  spite  of  the  famous  ^^  entente  cordiale,^^  her 
heedlessness  was  near  causing  a  revival  of  the  perennial  rivalry 
of  France  and  perfidious  Albion,  A  quadrille  promised  twice 
over  to  a  young  English  nobleman,  aged  ten,  and  a  boy  from 
a  preparatory  naval  school — Barniol's  school — was  about  to 
result  in  something  more  than  railing  accusations,  for  the 
young  heir  to  the  English  peerage  had  already  doubled  his 
fist  in  attitude  to  box. 

This  squabble  being  settled,  another  disaster  befell :  a  very 
small  boy,  seeing  the  servant  bring  in  a  tray  of  cakes  and 
cooling  drinks  after  a  polka,  which  had  made  him  very  hot, 
was  anxious  to  refresh  himself;  but  as  he  was  too  short  to 
reach  the  level  at  which  the  objects  of  his  desire  were  held  by 
the  footman,  he  unfortunately  tried  clinging  to  the  rim  of  the 
tray  to  bring  it  within  reach;  the  tray  tilted,  lost  its  balance, 
and  one  of  its  corners  serving  as  a  gutter,  there  flowed,  as 
from  the  urn  of  a  mythological  river-god,  a  sort  of  cascade  of 
mingled  orgeat,  currant-syrup,  and  capillaire,  of  which  the 
fountain-head  was  the  overturned  glasses.  It  would  have  been 
well  if  only  the  rash  infant  himself  had  suffered  from  the  sud- 
den sticky  torrent ;  but  in  the  confusion  caused  by  the  catas- 
trophe, ten  innocent  victims  were  severely  splashed,  among 
them  five  or  six  infant  bacchantes,  who,  enraged  at  seeing 
their  garments  stained,  seemed  ready  to  make  a  second  Or- 
pheus of  the  luckless  blunderer. 

While  he  was  rescued  with  difficulty  from  their  hands,  and 
delivered  over  to  those  of  a  German  governess,  who  had  has- 
tened to  the  scene  of  the  uproar — 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.^  307 

"What  could  Na"is  be  thinking  of,"  said  a  pretty,  fair- 
haired  little  girl  to  a  youthful  Highlander  with  whom  she  had 
been  dancing  all  the  evening,  "  to  invite  little  children  no 
bigger  than  that?" 

**  Oh,  I  quite  understand,"  said  the  Highlander;  "  he  is  a 
little  boy  belonging  to  the  Accountant  Office  people;  NaTs 
was  obliged  to  ask  him  on  account  of  his  parents ;  it  was  a 
matter  of  civility." 

At  the  same  time  putting  his  hand  through  a  friend's  arm — 

"I  say,  Ernest,"  he  went  on,  "I  could  smoke  a  cigar! 
Suppose  we  try  and  find  a  corner  out  of  all  this  riot." 

"I  cannot,  my  dear  fellow,"  replied  Ernest  mysteriously. 
"You  know  that  Leontine  always  makes  a  scene  when  she 
finds  out  that  I  have  been  smoking.  She  is  in  the  sweetest 
mood  to-night.     There,  look  what  she  has  just  given  me  !  " 

"A  horse-hair  ring,  with  two  flaming  hearts!"  said  the 
Highlander  scornfully.  "Why,  every  schoolboy  makes 
them  !  " 

"Then,  pray,  what  have  you  to  show?"  retorted  Ernest, 
much  nettled. 

"  Oh  !  "  said  the  Highlander,  "  better  than  that." 

And  with  a  consequential  air  he  took  out  of  the  sporran,* 
which  formed  part  of  his  costume,  a  sheet  of  scented  blue 
paper. 

"There,"  said  he,  holding  it  under  Ernest's  nose,  "just 
smell  that." 

Ernest,  with  conspicuous  lack  of  delicacy,  snatched  at  the 
note  and  got  possession  of  it ;  the  Highlander,  in  a  rage, 
struggled  to  get  it  back.  Then  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade  inter- 
vened, and  having  not  the  remotest  suspicion  of  the  cause 
of  the  fray,  separated  the  combatants,  so  that  the  spoiler 
could  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  crime  unmolested  in  a  corner. 
The  paper  was  blank.  The  young  rascal  had  stolen  the  sheet 
of  scented  paper  that  morning  from  his  mamma's  blotting- 

*  The  pouch  of  fur  worn  in  front  of  the  kilt. 


808  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

book — she  perhaps  would  have  made  some  less  immaculate 
thing  of  it. 

Ernest  presently  returned  it  to  the  Highlander — 

"Here;  I  give  you  back  your  letter,"  said  he,  in  a  tone  of 
derision.     "It  is  desperately  compromising  !  " 

"Keep  it,  sir,"  replied  the  other.  "  I  will  ask  you  for  it 
to-morrow  under  the  chestnut-trees  in  the  Tuileries.  Mean- 
while, you  must  understand  that  we  can  have  nothing  more  to 
say  to  each  other  !  " 

Ernest's  demeanor  was  less  chivalrous.  His  only  reply  was 
to  put  the  thuriib  of  his  right  hand  to  his  nose,  spreading  his 
fingers  and  turning  an  imaginary  handle — an  ironical  demon- 
stration which  he  had  learned  from  seeing  it  performed  by  his 
mother's  coachman.  Then  he  went  off  to  find  his  partner 
for  a  quadrille  that  was  being  formed. 

Sallenauve,  who  had  returned  about  four  in  the  afternoon 
from  spending  two  days  at  Ville-d'Avray,  could  not  give 
Madame  de  I'Estorade  a  good  report  of  his  friend.  Under 
a  mask  of  cold  resignation,  Marie-Gaston  was  in  deep  dejec- 
tion ;  and  the  most  serious  cause  of  anxiety,  because  it  was  so 
unnatural,  was  that  he  had  not  yet  been  to  visit  his  wife's 
grave ;  it  was  as  though  he  foresaw  the  risk  of  such  agitation 
as  he  really  dared  not  face.  This  state  of  mind  had  so 
greatly  disturbed  Sallenauve,  that,  but  for  fear  of  really  dis- 
tressing NaYs  by  not  appearing  at  her  ball,  he  would  not  have 
left  his  friend,  who  was  by  no  means  to  be  persuaded  to  come 
to  Paris  with  him. 

It  may  be  remembered  that  one  of  Bixiou's  chief  grievances 
against  Dorlange  had  been  the  sculptor's  ambition,  if  not 
indeed  to  know  everything,  at  any  rate  to  examine  every- 
thing. During  the  last  year  especially  Sallenauve,  having 
spent  no  time  in  his  art  but  what  was  needed  for  the  "  Sainte- 
Ursule,"  had  been  at  leisure  to  devote  himself  to  the  scientific 
Studies  which  justify  a  parliamentary  representative  in  speak- 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  909 

ing  with  authority  when  they  can  serve  to  support  or  illustrate 
his  political  views. 

Hence,  though  in  talking  to  Monsieur  Godivet,  the  registrar 
of  taxes  at  Arcis,  he  had  modestly  expressed  himself  as  igno- 
rant of  the  details  of  that  official's  functions,  he  had  given  his 
attention  to  the  various  elements  on  which  they  bore — the 
customs,  conveyancing-fees,  stamps,  and  direct  or  indirect 
taxes.  Then,  in  turning  to  the  science — so  problematical, 
and  yet  so  self-confident  that  it  has  assumed  a  name — Poli- 
tical Economy — Sallenauve  had  studied  with  no  less  care  the 
various  sources  which  contribute  to  form  the  mighty  river  of 
the  nation's  wealth ;  and  the  branch  of  the  subject  relating  to 
mines,  the  matter  just  now  of  preponderating  interest  to  Mon- 
sieur de  Camps,  had  not  been  neglected.  The  ironmaster  had 
been  so  exclusively  interested  in  the  question  of  iron  ores 
that  he  had  much  to  learn  in  the  other  branches  of  metallurgy, 
and  his  delight  may  be  imagined  on  hearing  from  the  newly 
made  deputy  a  sort  of  "Arabian  Nights'  "  tale  of  the  riches 
of  the  land,  though,  certified  by  science,  there  could  be  no 
doubt  of  the  facts. 

"Do  you  mean,  monsieur,"  cried  Monsieur  de  Camps, 
*'  that  beside  our  coal  and  iron  mines  we  have  deposits  of 
copper,  lead,  and  even  of  silver?  " 

"  If  you  will  only  consult  some  specialist,  he  will  tell  you 
that  the  famous  mines  of  Bohemia  and  Saxony,  of  Russia  and 
of  Hungary,  are  not  to  be  compared  to  those  that  exist  in  the 
Pyrenees ;  in  the  Alps  from  Brian^on  to  the  Isere ;  in  the 
Cevennes,  especially  about  the  Lozere  ;  in  the  Puy-de-D6me  ; 
in  Brittany  and  in  the  Vosges.  In  the  Vosges,  not  far  from 
the  town  of  Saint-Die,  I  can  tell  you  of  a  single  vein  of  silver 
ore  that  runs  with  a  width  of  from  fifty  to  eighty  mdtres  for  a 
distance  of  about  eight  miles." 

"  How  is  it,  then,  that  this  mineral  wealth  has  never  been 
worked  ? ' ' 

"  It  was,  at  one  time,"  said  Sallenauve,  "  at  a  distant  period. 


310  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

especially  during  the  Roman  dominion  in  Gaul.  These  mines 
were  abandoned  at  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  but  worked 
again  during  the  Middle  Ages  by  the  clergy  and  the  lords  of 
the  soil ;  then,  during  the  struggle  between  the  feudal  nobles 
and  the  sovereign,  and  the  long  civil  wars  which  devastated 
the  country,  the  working  was  given  up,  and  no  one  has  taken 
it  up  since." 

"  And- you  are  sure  of  the  facts?  " 

"Ancient  writers,  Strabo  and  others,  all  speak  of  these 
mines ;  the  tradition  of  their  working  survives  in  the  districts 
where  they  lie ;  imperial  decrees  and  the  edicts  of  kings  bear 
witness  to  their  existence  and  to  the  value  of  their  output ; 
and  in  some  places  there  is  still  more  practical  evidence  in 
excavations  of  considerable  length  and  depth,  shafts  and 
caverns  hewn  out  of  the  living  rock,  and  all  the  traces  which 
bear  witness  to  the  vast  undertakings  that  immortalized  Roman 
enterprise.  To  this  may  be  added  the  evidence  of  modern 
geological  science,  which  has  everywhere  confirmed  and  am- 
plified these  indications." 

But  here  Lucas  threw  open  the  drawing-room  door  and 
announced  in  his  loudest  and  most  impressive  tones:  "  Mon- 
sieur the  Minister  of  Public  Works." 

The  effect  on  the  assembly  was  electrical ;  it  even  broke  in 
on  the  tite-a-tite  of  the  two  new  friends. 

"  Let  us  have  a  look  at  this  little  Rastignac  who  has  blos- 
somed into  a  public  personage,"  said  Monsieur  de  Camps  dis- 
dainfully, as  he  rose. 

But  in  his  heart  it  struck  him  that  this  was  an  opportunity 
of  getting  hold  of  the  inaccessible  minister ;  in  virtue  of  the 
sound  principle  that  a  bird  in  hand  is  worth  two  in  the  bush, 
he  left  the  hidden  fortune  revealed  to  him  by  Sallenauve  to 
rest  in  peace,  and  went  back  to  his  iron-mine.  Sallenauve, 
on  his  part,  foresaw  an  introduction  to  be  inevitable ;  it  seemed 
to  him  impossible  but  that  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade's  Conser- 
vative zeal  would  contrive  to  bring  it  about. 


THE   DEPUTY  FOR   ARCIS.  311 

And  what  would  his  allies  of  the  Opposition  say  to  the 
news,  which  would  certainly  be  reported  on  the  morrow,  that 
a  representative  of  the  Extreme  Left  had  been  seen  in  a 
drawing-room  in  conversation  with  a  minister  so  noted  for  his 
ardor  and  skill  in  making  political  proselytes?  Sallenauve 
had  already  had  a  taste  of  his  party's  ideas  of  tolerance  in  the 
office  of  the  "  National ;  "  he  had  heard  it  insinuated  that  the 
affectation  of  moderation  promised  by  his  profession  of  polit- 
ical faith  was  not  to  be  taken  literally  as  to  his  parliamentary 
conduct ;  that,  in  fact,  he  would  soon  find  himself  deserted 
if  he  should  attempt  to  make  his  practice  agree  with  his 
theories. 

Anxious  as  he  was,  too,  about  Marie-Gaston,  having  put  in 
an  appearance  at  NaTs'  party,  he  was  eager  now  to  return  to 
the  Ville-d'Avray,  and  for  all  these  reasons  he  determined  to 
profit  by  the  general  excitement  and  beat  a  retreat.  By  quiet 
and  simple  tactics  he  got  round  to  the  door,  and  hoped  to 
escape  without  being  observed.  But  he  had  reckoned  without 
NaTs,  to  whom  he  had  promised  a  quadrille.  The  instant  he 
laid  his  hand  on  the  door-handle  the  little  girl  sounded  the 
alarm,  and  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  with  what  precipitancy 
may  be  imagined,  took  her  part  to  detain  the  deserter.  Seeing 
that  his  ruse  had  failed,  Sallenauve  dared  not  commit  himself 
to  a  retreat  which  would  have  been  in  bad  taste  by  assuming 
an  importance  suggestive  of  political  priggishness ;  so  he  took 
his  chance  of  what  might  happen,  and,  after  graciously  allow- 
ing himself  to  be  reinstated  on  Mademoiselle  NaTs'  list  of 
partners,  he  remained. 

Monsieur  de  I'Estorade  knew  Sallenauve  to  be  too  clever  a 
man  to  become  the  dupe  of  any  finessing  he  might  attempt  to 
throw  in  the  minister's  way.  He  therefore  acted  with  perfect 
simplicity ;  and  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after  Monsieur  de  Ras- 
tignac's  arrival,  they  came  to  the  deputy  arm  in  arm,  the  host 
saying — 

"  Monsieur  de  Rastignac,  minister  of  Public  Works,  has 


X. 


312  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARC2S. 

desired  me  before  the  battle  begins  to  introduce  him  to  one 
of  the  generals  of  the  hostile  force." 

**  Monsieur  le  Ministre  does  me  too  much  honor,"  said 
Sallenauve  ceremoniously.  •'  Far  from  being  a  general,  I 
am  but  one  of  the  humblest  and  least  known  of  the  rank  and 
file." 

"  Nay  !  "  said  the  minister,  *'  the  fight  at  Arcis-sur-Aube  was 
no  small  victory ;  you  sent  our  men  pretty  smartly  to  the  right- 
about, monsieur." 

"There  was  nothing,"  said  de  Sallenauve,  "very  astonish- 
ing in  that,  monsieur ;  as  you  may  have  heard,  we  had  a  saint 
on  our  side." 

"At  any  rate,"  replied  Rastignac,  "  I  prefer  such  an  issue 
to  that  which  had  been  planned  for  us  by  a  man  whom  I  had 
believed  to  be  more  capable,  and  whom  we  sent  down  to  the 
scene  of  action.  That  Beauvisage  would  seem  to  be  hope- 
lessly stupid ;  he  would  have  reflected  on  us  if  we  had  got  him 
in  ;  and,  after  all,  he  was  only  Left  Centre,  like  that  lawyer, 
Giguet.  Now  the  Left  Centre  is,  in  fact,  our  worst  enemy, 
because,  while  traversing  our  politics,  it  aims  p'-'/.cipally  at 
getting  into  office." 

"  Oh  !  "  said  Monsieu.:  de  I'Estorade,  "  from  what  you  were 
told  of  the  man,  he  would  have  been  whatever  he  was  bidden 
to  be." 

"  No,  no,  my  dear  fellow,  don't  fancy  that.  Fools  often 
cling  more  closely  than  you  might  believe  to  the  flag  under 
which  they  have  enlisted.  Going  over  to  the  enemy  implies 
a  choice,  and  that  means  a  rather  complicated  mental  process; 
obstinacy  is  far  easier." 

"  I  quite  agree  with  the  minister,"  said  Sallenauve;  "the 
extremes  of  innocence  and  cunning  are  equally  proof  against 
being  talked  over." 

"You  kill  your  man  kindly,"  said  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade, 
patting  Sallenauve  on  the  shoulder. 

Then  seeing,  or  pretending  to  see,  in  the  mirror  over  the 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  313 

chimney-shelf  by  which  they  stood,  a  signal  that  he  was 
wanted — 

"Coming,"  said  he  over  his  shoulder,  and  having  thus 
thrown  the  foes  together,  he  went  off,  as  if  he  were  required 
for  some  duty  as  host. 

Sallenauve  was  determined  not  to  look  like  a  schoolgirl 
frightened  out  of  her  wits  at  the  notion  of  being  left  alone  with 
a  gentleman  ;  since  they  had  met,  he  would  put  a  good  face  on 
the  matter,  and,  speaking  at  once,  he  asked  whether  the  min- 
istry had  any  large  number  of  bills  to  lay  before  the  Houses, 
which  would  meet  a  few  days  hence. 

"No,  very  few,"  replied  Rastignac.  "We  honestly  did 
not  expect  to  remain  in  office ;  we  appealed  to  an  election 
because  in  the  confusion  of  public  opinion  forced  on  by  the 
press,  we  felt  it  our  duty  to  bring  it  to  its  bearings,  and  com- 
pel it  to  know  its  own  mind  by  requiring  it  to  declare  itself. 
We  had  no  hope  of  the  result  proving  favorable  to  ourselves ; 
and  the  victory,  it  must  be  confessed,  finds  us  quite  unpre- 
pared." 

"Like  the  peasant,"  said  Sallenauve,  laughing,  "who, 
expecting  the  end  of  the  world,  did  not  think  it  worth  while 
to  sow  his  field." 

"  Oh  !  "  said  Rastignac  modestly,  "we  did  not  regard  our 
retirement  as  the  end  of  the  world.  We  believe  that  there 
will  be  men  after  us,  and  many  of  them,  perfectly  able  to 
govern  ;  only,  in  that  temporary  sojourn  known  as  office,  as 
we  expected  to  give  very  few  performances,  we  did  not  unpack 
our  scenery  and  dresses.  The  session  was  not  in  any  case  to 
be  one  of  business ;  the  question  now  to  be  decided  is  between 
what  is  called  the  Chateau,  the  personal  influence  of  the  sov- 
ereign, and  parliamentary  supremacy.  This  question  will 
inevitably  come  to  the  front  when  we  are  required  to  ask  for 
the  Secret  Service  fund.  When  it  has  been  settled  one  way  or 
the  other,  the  appropriations  are  passed,  and  a  few  acts  of 
minor  importance,  parliament  will  have  gotten  through  its 


314  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARC  IS. 

task  with  credit,  for  it  will  have  put  an  end  to  a  heart-breaking 
struggle,  and  the  country  will  know  once  and  for  all  to  which 
of  the  two  powers  it  is  to  look  with  assurance  for  the  promo- 
tion of  its  prosperity." 

"Then  you  think,"  said  Sallenauve,  "that  this  is  a  very 
useful  question  to  settle  in  the  economy  of  a  constitutional 
government?" 

"  Well,  it  was  not  we  who  raised  it,"  said  Rastignac.  "It 
is  perhaps  the  outcome  of  circumstances ;  and,  to  a  great  ex- 
tent, of  the  impatience  of  some  ambitious  men,  and  of  party 
tactics." 

"  So  that,  in  your  opinion,  sir,  one  of  those  powers  is  in  no 
respect  to  blame,  and  has  nothing  whatever  to  repent  of?" 

"You  are  a  Republican,"  replied  Rastignac,  "and  conse- 
quently a  priori  an  enemy  of  the  dynasty.  It  would  be,  I 
conceive,  pure  waste  of  time  on  my  part  to  try  to  rectify  your 
ideas  as  to  what  constitutes  the  course  of  conduct  of  which 
you  accuse  it." 

"You  are  quite  mistaken,"  said  the  supporter  of  the  theo- 
retical, imaginable  future  republic.  "  I  have  no  preconceived 
hatred  of  the  reigning  dynasty.  I  even  think  that  in  its  past 
history,  variegated,  if  I  may  say  so,  with  royal  relationship 
and  revolutionary  impulses,  there  are  all  the  elements  that 
should  commend  it  to  the  liberal  and  monarchical  instincts  of 
the  people.  At  the  same  time,  you  will  fail  to  convince  me 
that  the  present  head  of  the  royal  family  is  untainted  by  those 
extravagant  notions  of  personal  prerogative  which,  in  the  long 
run,  must  undermine,  disfigure,  and  wreck  the  most  admirable 
and  the  strongest  institutions." 

"Yes,"  said  Rastignac  sarcastically,  "their  salvation  is  to 
be  found  in  the  famous  saying  of  the  member  for  Sancerre : 
*  The  King  reigns  ;  he  does  not  govern  ! '  " 

Whether  it  was  that  he  was  tired  of  standing  or  that  he 
wished  to  show  that  he  was  quite  at  his  ease  in  avoiding  the 
pitfall  that  had  so  evidently  been  laid  for  him,  Sallenauve, 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  315 

before  he  answered,  pulled  forward  an  armchair  for  the  min- 
ister, and,  after  seating  himself,  replied — 

"Will  you  allGw  me,  monsieur,  to  quote  the  example  of 
another  royal  personage  ?  a  prince  who  was  not  thought  to  be 
indifferent  to  the  prerogatives  of  his  crown,  and  who  certainly 
was  not  ignorant  of  constitutional  procedure.  In  the  first 
place,  because,  like  our  present  King,  he  was  not  ignorant  on 
any  subject  whatever;  and,  in  the  second  place,  because  he 
himself  had  introduced  the  constitutional  system  into  our 
country." 

"Louis  XVIII.,"  said  Rastignac,  "or,  as  the  newspapers 
have  it :  '  The  illustrious  author  of  the  Charter  ? '  " 

"  Just  so,"  said  Sallenauve.  "  Now,  let  me  ask  you,  where 
did  he  die?" 

"At  the  Tuileries,  of  course." 

"  And  his  successor  ?  " 

"  In  exile.     I  see  your  point." 

"  My  point  is  not,  in  fact,  very  difl5cult  to  discern.  But 
have  you  observed,  sir,  the  inference  to  be  drawn  from  that 
royal  career — for  which  I,  for  my  part,  profess  entire  respect  ? 
Louis  XVIII.*  was  not  a  citizen  king.  He  vouchsafed  the 
Charter ;  it  was  not  wrung  from  him.  He  was  born  nearer 
to  the  throne  than  the  King  whose  unfortunate  tendencies  I 
have  mentioned  and  was  bound  to  inherit  a  larger  share  of 
the  ideas,  infatuations,  and  prejudices  of  Court  life.  His  per- 
son was  laughable — and  this  in  France  means  degeneracy ;  he 
had  to  make  the  best  of  a  new  regime  following  a  government 
which  had  intoxicated  the  people  with  that  fine  gilded  smoke 
called  glory ;  also,  if  he  was  not  actually  brought  in  by  for- 
eigners, he  at  least  came  in  at  the  heels  of  an  invasion  by 
Europe  in  arms.  And  now,  shall  I  tell  you  why,  in  spite  of 
his  own  original  sin,  and  in  spite  of  a  standing  conspiracy 
against  his  rule,  he  was  allowed  to  die  in  peace  under  his 
canopy  at  the  Tuileries  ?  " 

*  This  king  favored  the  Revolution  in  its  first  stages. 


316  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"Because  he  was  constitutional?"  said  Rastignac,  with  a 
shrug.     "  But  can  you  say  that  we  are  not  ?  " 

"  In  the  letter,  yes  ;  in  the  spirit,  no.  When  King  Louis 
XVIII.  placed  his  confidence  in  a  prime  minister,  it  was  com- 
plete and  entire ;  he  played  no  underhand  game,  but  supported 
him  to  the  utmost.  Witness  the  famous  edict  of  the  5th  of 
September,  and  the  dismissal  of  the  undiscoverable  Chamber, 
which  was  more  royalist  than  himself — a  thing  he  was  well 
advised  enough  to  disapprove.  Later,  a  revulsion  of  opinion 
shook  the  minister  who  had  prompted  him  to  this  action. 
That  minister  was  his  favorite — his  child,  as  he  called  him. 
No  matter;  yielding  to  constitutional  necessity,  after  wrapping 
him  in  orders  and  titles,  and  everything  that  could  deaden 
the  shock  of  a  fall,  he  courageously  sent  him  abroad ;  and 
then  he  did  not  dig  mines,  or  set  watch,  or  try  to  make 
opportunities  for  surreptitiously  recalling  him  to  power.  That 
minister  never  held  office  again." 

"  For  a  man  who  does  not  hate  Us,"  said  Rastignac,  "you 
are  pretty  hard  upon  Us.  We  are  little  short  of  forsworn  to 
the  constitutional  compact,  and  Our  policy,  by  your  account, 
is  ambiguous  and  tortuous,  and  suggests  a  certain  remote  like- 
ness to  M.  Doublemain,  the  sly  and  wily  clerk  in  the  '  Mariage 
de  Figaro.'  " 

**  I  would  not  say  that  the  evil  lay  so  deep  or  came  from 
so  far,"  replied  Sallenauve.  "  We  are  perhaps  merely  a  busy- 
body— only  in  the  sense,  of  course,  of  loving  to  have  a  finger 
in  everything." 

"  Well,  monsieur,  but  if  We  were  the  cleverest  politician  in 
the  kingdom  !  " 

"  That  does  hinder  the  kingdom — which  is  all  the  world — 
from  having  the  luck  now  and  again  of  being  as  clever  as  We 
are." 

"  On  my  word  !  "  said  Rastignac,  in  the  tone  which  seems 
to  emphasize  the  climax  of  a  conversation,  "I  wish  I  could 
realize  a  dream " 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  317 

"  Of  what  ?  "  said  Sallenauve. 

* '  Of  seeing  you  face  to  face  with  that  meddlesome  clever- 
ness which  you  seem  to  me  to  hold  so  cheap." 

"  You  know,  monsieur,  that  three-quarters  of  every  man's 
life  are  spent  in  imagining  the  impossible." 

"Impossible!  Why?  Would  you  be  the  first  Opposition 
member  ever  seen  at  the  Tuileries  ?  And  an  invitation  to 
dinner — quite  publicly  and  ostensibly  given — that  would 
bring  you  nearer  to  what  you  judge  so  hardly  from  a  dis- 
tance  ?" 

"I  should  do  myself  the  honor  of  refusing  it,  monsieur," 
and  he  accentuated  the  honor  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  his  own 
meaning  to  the  word. 

"That  is  just  like  you,  all  you  men  of  the  Opposition," 
cried  Rastignac,  "  refusing  to  see  the  light  when  the  occasion 
offers — incapable  of  seeing  it,  in  fact !  " 

*'  Do  you  see  the  light  to  any  particular  advantage,  mon- 
sieur, when,  in  the  evening,  as  you  pass  a  druggist's  store, 
you  get  full  in  your  eyes  a  glare  from  those  gigantic  glass 
jars  which  seem  to  have  been  invented  expressly  to  blind  peo- 
ple?" 

"You  are  not  afraid  of  Our  beams,  but  of  the  dark  lantern 
of  your  colleagues  making  their  rounds." 

"  There  is  perhaps  some  truth  in  that,  Monsieur  le  Ministre. 
A  party,  and  the  man  who  craves  the  honor  of  representing 
it,  are  like  a  married  couple,  who,  if  they  are  to  get  on  to- 
gether, must  treat  each  other  with  mutual  consideration,  sin- 
cerity, and  fidelity,  in  fact  as  well  as  in  form." 

"Then  try  to  be  moderate!  Your  dream,  indeed,  is  far 
more  impossible  to  realize  than  mine  ;  you  will  have  some  ex- 
perience yet  of  the  consideration  shown  you  by  your  chaste 
Spouse." 

"  If  there  was  any  misfortune  I  might  be  certain  of,  it  was 
that,  no  doubt." 

**  You  think  that !     And  you,  with  the  noble  and  generous 


318  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

feeling  that  is  evident  in  you — can  you  even  endure  unmoved 
the  slander  which  is  perhaps  already  sharpening  its  darts?" 

"Have  you  yourself,  monsieur,  never  felt  its  sting?  or,  if 
you  have,  did  it  turn  you  aside  from  the  road  you  were  follow- 
ing?" 

"But  if  I  were  to  tell  you,"  said  Rastignac,  lowering  his 
voice,  "  that  I  have  already  had  occasion  to  decline  certain 
officious  proposals  to  stir  the  depths  of  your  private  life,  on 
a  side,  which,  being  a  little  less  open  to  daylight  than  the 
others,  has  seemed  particularly  adapted  for  the  setting  of  a 
snare  ? ' ' 

"  I  will  not  thank  you,  sir,  for  merely  doing  yourself  justice 
by  scorning  the  attemps  of  these  meddlers,  who  are  neither  of 
your  party  nor  of  mine — whose  only  party  is  that  of  their  own 
low  greed  and  interest.  But  even  if  by  some  impossible  chance 
they  had  found  a  loophole  through  which  to  approach  you, 
believe  me,  that  any  purpose  sanctioned  by  my  conscience 
would  not  have  been  in  the  least  affected." 

"  Still,  do  but  consider  the  constituent  elements  of  your 
party :  a  rabble  of  disappointed  schemers,  of  envious  bru- 
tality, base  imitators  of  '93,  despots  disguised  as  devotees  of 
liberty." 

"My  party  has  not,  and  wants  to  have.  Yours  calls  itself 
Conservative — and  with  good  reason — its  principal  aim  being 
to  keep  power,  places,  fortune,  everything  it  has,  in  its  clutches. 
But  at  bottom,  monsieur,  the  cooking  is  the  same :  eat,  but  do 
not  see  the  process ;  for,  as  la  Bruyere  says:  '  If  you  see  a  meal 
anywhere  but  on  a  well-laid  table,  how  foul  and  disgusting  it 
is  ! '  " 

"  But,  at  any  rate,  monsieur.  We  are  not  a  blind  alley — We 
lead  to  something.  Now,  the  more  you  rise  by  superior 
character  and  intelligence,  the  less  you  will  be  allowed  to  get 
through  with  your  horde  of  democrats  in  your  train,  for  its 
triumph  would  mean  not  a  mere  change  of  policy,  but  a 
revolution." 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  319 

"  But  who  says  that  I  want  to  get  through,  to  arrive  any- 
where ? ' ' 

**  What,  merely  ijiarch  without  trying  to  attain  !  A  certain 
breadth  of  faculty  nt>t  only  gives  a  man  the  right  to  aim  at 
the  conduct  of  affairs,  it  makes  it  his  duty." 

"To  keep  an  eye  on  those  who  conduct  them  is  surely  a 
useful  function  too,  and,  I  may  add,  a  very  absorbing  one." 

"  You  do  not  imagine,  my  dear  sir,"  said  Rastignac,  "  that 
I  should  have  taken  so  much  trouble  to  convince  Beauvisage ; 
to  be  sure,  it  must  be  said  that  with  him  I  should  have  had  an 
easier  task." 

"  One  happy  result  will  ensue  from  the  introduction  which 
chance  has  brought  about,"  said  Sallenauve.  *'  We  shall  feel 
that  we  know  each  other,  and  in  our  future  meetings  shall  be 
pledged  to  courtesy — which  will  not  diminish  the  strength  of 
our  convictions." 

"  Then  I  am  to  tell  the  King,  for  I  had  special  instructions 
from  his  majesty " 

Rastignac  could  not  finish  the  sentence  which  was  his  last 
cartridge,  as  it  were  ;  for,  as  the  band  played  the  introductory 
bars  of  a  quadrille,  NaYs  rushed  up  to  him,  and,  with  a  coquet- 
tish curtsey,  said — 

"  Monsieur  le  Ministre,  I  am  very  sorry,  but  you  have  taken 
possession  of  my  partner,  and  you  must  give  him  up  to  me. 
I  have  his  name  down  for  the  eleventh  quadrille,  and  if  I  miss 
a  turn  it  makes  such  dreadful  confusion  !  " 

"  You  will  excuse  me,  monsieur,"  said  Sallenauve,  laughing. 
"You  see  I  am  not  a  very  red  Republican." 

And  he  went  with  NaTs,  who  dragged  him  away  by  the  hand. 

Madame  de  I'Estorade  had  had  a  kindly  thought.  It  had 
occurred  to  her  that  Sallenauve's  good-natured  consent  to 
humor  NaTs  might  cost  his  dignity  a  prick,  so  she  had  con- 
trived that  some  papas  and  mammas  should  join  in  the  quad- 
rille he  had  been  drawn  into ;  and  she  herself,  with  the  young 
Highlander,  the  hero  of  the  blank  billets-doux — who,  little  as 


320  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

she  suspected  it,  was  quite  capable  of  making  mischief  for  her 
— took  the  place  of  vis-a-vis  to  the  little  girl. 

Nais  was  beaming  with  pride  and  delight ;  and  at  a  moment, 
when  in  the  figure  of  the  dance  she  had  to  take  her  mother's 
hand — 

**  Poor  mamma,"  said  she,  giving  it  an  ecstatic  clutch, 
"  but  for  him  you  would  not  have  me  here  now !  " 

The  sudden  and  unexpected  expression  of  this  reminiscence 
so  startled  Madame  de  I'Estorade  that  she  was  seized  with  a 
return  of  the  nervous  spasm  that  had  attacked  her  at  the  sight 
of  the  child's  narrow  escape.  She  was  obliged  to  take  a  seat, 
and  seeing  her  turn  pale,  Sallenauve,  NaTs,  and  Madame  de 
Camps  all  three  came  up  to  know  if  she  was  ill. 

"It  is  nothing,"  said  Madame  de  I'Estorade,  as  she  turned 
to  Sallenauve — "only  this  child  reminded  me  of  our  immense 
obligation  to  you.  *  But  for  him,'  she  said  to  me,  '  you  would 
not  have  me  here,  poor  mamma !  '  And  it  is  true,  monsieur, 
but  for  your  magnanimous  courage,  where  would  she  be  now  ?  " 

"Come,  come,  be  calm,"  said  Madame  Octave,  hearing 
that  her  friend's  voice  was  broken  and  hysterical.  "  Have  you 
no  sense  that  you  can  be  so  upset  by  a  little  girl's  speech?" 

"She  has  more  feeling  than  we  have,"  replied  Madame  de 
I'Estorade,  throwing  her  arms  round  Nais,  who,  with  the  rest, 
was  saying:   "  Come,  mamma,  be  calm." 

"  There  is  nothing  in  the  world  that  she  thinks  more  of 
than  her  preserver — while  her  father  and  I — we  have  hardly 
expressed  our  gratitude." 

"Why,  you  have  overwhelmed  me,  madame,"  said  Salle- 
nauve politely. 

"  Overwhelmed  ?  "  said  NaTs,  shaking  her  pretty  head  dubi- 
ously. "If  anyone  had  saved  my  daughter,  I  should  treat 
him  very  differently  !  " 

"Nais,"  said  Madame  de  Camps  severely,  "little  girls 
should  be  seen  and  not  heard  when  their  opinion  is  not 
asked." 


TIfff'j)EPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  Ml 

"What  is  the  matter?  "  said  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  who 
now  joined  the  group. 

"  Nothing,"  said  Madame  de  Camps.  "  Dancing  made 
Renee  a  little  giddy." 

**  And  is  she  all  right  again  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  have  quite  recovered,"  replied  Madame  de  I'Esto- 
rade. 

"  Then  come  to  say  good-night  to  Madame  de  Rastign*;^ 
she  is  just  going." 

In  his  eagerness  to  attend  the  minister's  wife,  Monsieur  de 
I'Estorade  did  not  think  of  giving  his  arm  to  his  own  wife. 
Sallenauve  offered  her  his.  As  they  crossed  the  room,  Mon- 
sieur de  I'Estorade  leading  the  way  so  that  he  could  not  hear, 
his  wife  said  to  Sallenauve — 

"You  were  talking  to  Monsieur  de  Rastignac  for  a  long 
time.     He  tried,  no  doubt,  to  convert  you?  " 

"  Do  you  think  he  has  succeeded?  "  asked  Sallenauve. 

*'  No  ;  but  these  attempts  at  inveiglement  are  always  un- 
pleasant. I  can  only  beg  you  to  believe  that  I  was  no  party 
to  the  conspiracy.  I  am  not  such  a  frenzied  ministerialist  as 
my  husband." 

"  Nor  am  I  such  a  rabid  revolutionary  as  seems  to  be  sup- 
posed." 

*'  I  only  hope  that  these  vexatious  politics,  which  will  bring 
you  more  than  once  into  antagonism  with  Monsieur  de  I'Esto- 
rade, will  not  sicken  you  of  including  us  among  your  friends." 

"Nay,  madame,  that  is  an  honor  and  a  happiness." 

"  It  is  not  honor  but  pleasure  that  I  would  have  you  look 
for,"  said  Madame  de  I'Estorade  eagerly.  "I  must  parody 
Nais — *  If  I  had  saved  anybody's  daughter,  I  should  be  less 
ceremonious.'  " 

And  having  said  this,  without  waiting  for  a  reply,  she  re- 
leased her  hand  from  Sallenauve's  arm,  and  left  him  not  a 
little  surprised  at  her  tone. 

21 


322  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

My  readers  will  hardly  be  surprised  to  find  Madame  de 
I'Estorade  so  entirely  obedient  to  Madame  Octave's  advice, 
ingenious  perhaps  rather  than  judicious.  In  fact,  they  must 
long  since  have  suspected  that  the  unimpressionable  countess 
had  yielded  to  a  certain  attraction  toward  the  man  who  had 
not  only  saved  her  child's  life,  but  g.lso  appealed  to  her  imag- 
ination through  such  singular  and  romantic  accessory  facts. 
No  one  but  herself,  it  is  quite  certain,  had  been  deluded  into 
security  by  a  conviction  of  Sallenauve's  perfect  indifference. 
The  certainty  of  his  not  caring  for  her  was,  in  fact,  the  only 
snare  into  which  she  could  trip ;  as  a  declared  lover  he  would 
have  been  infinitely  less  dangerous. 

In  considering  the  success  that  had  hitherto  crowned  her 
stern  task,  one  of  the  first  elements  to  be  reckoned  with  was 
the  circumstance  of  Louise  de  Chaulieu.  To  her  that  poor 
reasonless  woman  had  been  like  the  drunken  slaves,  by  whose 
example  the  Spartans  were  wont  to  give  a  living  lesson  to 
their  children,  and  a  sort  of  tacit  wager  had  existed  between 
the  two  friends.  Louise  de  Chaulieu  having  thrown  herself 
into  the  part  of  unchecked  passion,  Renee  had  assumed  that 
of  sovereign  reason  ;  and,  to  gain  the  stakes,  she  had  exerted 
such  brave  good  sense  and  prudence  as,  but  for  this  incite- 
ment, would  perhaps  have  seemed  a  far  greater  sacrifice.  But 
here  was  a  man  who  cared  not  for  her,  though  he  thought  her 
beauty  ideal,  who  perhaps  loved  another  woman  ;  a  man  who, 
after  snatching  her  child  from  death,  looked  for  no  reward ; 
who  was  dignified,  reserved,  and  absorbed  in  quite  other  in- 
terests— how,  when  he  came  into  her  life  by  a  side-path,  was 
she  to  think  of  him  as  dangerous,  or  to  refuse  him  from  the 
first  the  calm  cordiality  of  friendship  ? 

Sallenauve,  meanwhile,  was  on  his  way  to  Ville-d'Avray, 
whither  he  had  set  out  in  spite  of  the  lateness  of  the  hour,  pos- 
sessed by  his  fears  for  his  friend.  And  this  was  what  he  was 
thinking  about — 

■\Vitbout  having  anything  definite  to  complain  pf  in  the 


Tffff'^PEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  323 

countess'  attitude,  Sallenauve  had  certainly  never  found  her 
at  all  warm  in  her  regard,  and  he  had  formed  the  same  estimate 
of  her  temper  and  character  as  the  rest  of  the  world  around 
her.  He  had  seen  her  as  a  woman  of  remarkable  intellectual 
gifts,  but  paralyzed  as  to  her  heart,  by  her  absorbing  and  ex- 
clusive passion  for  her  children.  "The  ice-bound  Madame 
de  I'Estorade,"  Marie-Gaston  had  once  called  her;  and  it  was 
correct  if  he  had  ever  thought  of  making  a  friend  of  her— ^hat 
is  to  say,  of  becoming  her  lover. 

Nor  was  it  only  as  regarded  Madame  de  I'Estorade,  but  as 
regarded  her  husband,  too,  that  Sallenauve  had  doubted  the 
future  permanency  of  their  alliance.  "  We  shall  quarrel  over 
politics,"  he  had  told  himself  a  dozen  times,  and  the  reader 
may  remember  one  of  his  letters  in  which  he  had  contem- 
plated this  conclusion  with  some  bitterness.  So  when  Mad- 
ame de  I'Estorade  had  seemed  to  encourage  him  to  take  up 
an  attitude  of  more  effusive  intimacy  with  her,  what  had  most 
surprised  him  was  the  marked  distinction  she  had  drawn  be- 
tween her  husband's  probable  demeanor  and  her  own.  Before 
a  woman  would  say  with  such  agitation  as  she  had  put  into  the 
inviting  words  :  "  I  only  hope  that  these  vexatious  politics  will 
not  disgust  you  with  us  as  friends,"  she  must  have,  Sallenauve 
thought,  to  speak  so  warmly,  a  warmer  heart  than  she  was 
generally  credited  with ;  and  this  profession  of  alliance  was 
not,  he  felt  sure,  to  be  taken  as  a  mere  drawing-room  civility, 
or  the  thoughtless  utterance  of  a  transient  and  shallow  im- 
pulse, as  the  little  nervous  attack  had  been  which  led  to  it 
all. 

Having  thus  analyzed  this  somewhat  serious  flirtation  to 
repay  Madame  de  I'Estorade's  politeness  the  statesman  did 
not  scorn  to  descend  to  a  remark,  which  was  illogical,  it  must 
be  owned,  as  regards  his  usual  reserve,  and  certain  memories 
of  his  past  life.  He  recollected  that  more  than  once,  at 
Rome,  he  had  seen  Mademoiselle  de  Lanty  dance,  and,  com- 
paring the  original  with  the  duplicate,  he  could  assure  himself 


824  THE  DEPUTY  FOR   ARC  IS. 

that,  notwithstanding  the  difference  in  their  age,  the  girl  had 
not  a  more  innocent  air,  nor  had  she  struck  him  as  more 
elegant  and  graceful. 

And  in  view  of  this  fact,  will  not  the  clear-sighted  reader 
— who  may  some  time  since  have  begun  to  suspect  that  these 
two  natures,  apparently  so  restrained,  so  intrenched  in  their 
past  experiences,  might  ultimately  come  into  closer  contact — 
discern  a  certain  convergence  of  gravitation  though  hitherto 
scarcely  perceptible  ?  It  was,  if  you  please,  solely  out  of  def- 
erence to  Madame  de  Camps'  advice  that  Madame  de  I'Es- 
torade  had  so  completely  modified  her  austere  determination  ; 
still,  short  of  admitting  some  slight  touch  of  the  sentiment 
her  friend  had  hinted  at,  is  it  likely  that  she  would  have  given 
such  singular  vehemence  to  her  expression  of  grateful  regard, 
or  that  a  mere  remark  from  a  child  would  have  strung  her 
nerves  up  to  such  a  point  as  to  surprise  her  into  making  the 
outburst  ? 

On  his  part,  not  having  taken  advantage  of  the  privileged 
position  thus  recklessly  thrown  open  to  him,  our  deputy  was 
tempted  to  think,  with  a  persistency  which,  if  not  very  im- 
prudent, was  at  least  very  unnecessary,  of  these  superficial 
graces.  Madame  de  Camps  had  spoken  truly:  "Friendship 
between  a  man  and  woman  is  neither  an  impossible  dream 
nor  an  ever-yawning  gulf."  But  in  practice,  it  must  be  said, 
that  this  sentiment,  by  which  we  delude  ourselves,  proves  to 
be  a  very  narrow  and  baseless  bridge  across  a  torrent,  need- 
ing in  those  who  hope  to  cross  it  without  difficulty  much 
presence  of  mind  on  both  sides  and  nerves  less  sensitive  than 
Madame  de  I'Estorade's;  while  it  is  a  necessary  precaution 
never  to  look  to  right  and  left,  as  Sallenauve  had  just  been 
doing. 

However,  on  arriving  at  Ville-d'Avray,  Sallenauve  found 
himself  face  to  face  with  a  strange  event ;  and  who  does  not 
know  how,  in  spite  of  our  determination,  events  often  disperse 
our  maturest  plans  ? 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  325 

Sallenauve  had  not  been  mistaken  in  his  serious  anxiety  as 
to  his  friend's  mental  condition. 

When  Marie-Gaston  abruptly  fled  after  his  wife's  death 
from  the  spot  where  that  cruel  parting  had  occurred,  he  would 
have  been  wise  to  pledge  himself  never  to  see  it  again. 
Nature  and  Providence  have  willed  it  that  in  presence  of  the 
stern  decrees  of  Death  he  who  is  stricken  through  the  person 
of  those  he  loves,  if  he  accepts  the  stroke  with  the  resignation 
demanded  under  the  action  of  every  inevitable  law,  does  not 
for  long  retain  the  keen  stamp  of  the  first  impression.  In  his 
famous  letter  against  suicide,  Rousseau  says :  *'  Sadness,  weari- 
ness, regret,  despair  are  but  transient  woes  which  never  take 
root  in  the  soul,  and  experience  exhausts  the  feeling  of  bitter- 
ness which  makes  us  think  that  our  sorrow  must  be  eternal." 

But  this  is  no  longer  true  for  those  rash  beings  who,  trying 
to  escape  from  the  first  grip  of  the  jaws  of  grief,  evade  it 
either  by  flight  or  by  some  immoderate  diversion.  All  mental 
suffering  is  a  kind  of  illness  for  which  time  is  a  specific,  and 
which  presently  wears  itself  out,  like  everything  violent.  If, 
on  the  contrary,  instead  of  being  left  to  burn  itself  out  slowly 
on  the  spot,  it  is  fed  by  change  of  scene  or  other  extreme 
measures,  the  action  of  Nature  is  hampered.  The  sufferer 
deprives  himself  of  the  balm  of  comparative  forgetfulness 
promised  to  those  who  can  endure ;  he  merely  transforms  into 
a  chronic  disease,  less  visible  perhaps,  but  more  deeply  seated, 
an  acute  attack,  thrown  in  by  checking  its  healthy  crisis. 
The  imagination  sides  with  the  heart,  and,  as  the  heart  is  by 
nature  limited  while  the  fancy  is  boundless,  there  is  no  possi- 
bility of  calculating  the  violence  of  the  excesses  by  which  a  man 
may  be  carried  away  under  its  ere-long  absolute  dominion. 

Marie-Gaston,  as  he  wandered  through  this  home  where  he 
had  believed  that  after  the  lapse  of  two  years  he  should  find 
only  the  pathos  of  remembrance,  had  not  taken  a  step,  had 
not  met  with  an  object  in  his  path  that  could  fail  to  revive  all 
his  happiest  days  and  at  the  same  time  the  disaster  that  had 


826  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

ended  them.  The  flowers  his  wife  had  loved,  the  lawns  and 
trees — verdurous  under  the  soft  breath  of  spring,  while  she 
who  had  formed  the  lovely  spot  lay  under  the  cold  earth — all 
the  dainty  elegance  brought  together  to  decorate  this  exquisite 
nest  for  their  love,  combined  to  sing  a  chorus  of  lamentation, 
a  long-drawn  wail  of  anguish  in  the  ears  of  him  who  dared  to 
breathe  the  dangerous  atmosphere.  Terrified  when  half-way 
by  the  overwhelming  sorrow  that  had  seized  on  him,  Marie- 
Gaston,  as  Sallenauve  had  observed,  had  not  dared  accomplish 
the  last  station  of  his  Calvary.  In  absence,  he  had  calmly 
busied  himself  with  drawing  up  an  estimate  for  the  private 
tomb  he  had  intended  to  build  for  the  remains  of  his  beloved 
Louise ;  but  here  he  could  not  endure  even  to  do  them  pious 
homage  in  the  village  graveyard  where  they  were  laid. 

The  worst,  in  short,  might  be  feared  from  a  sorrow  which, 
instead  of  being  soothed  by  the  touch  of  time,  was,  on  the 
contrary,  aggravated  by  duration,  having  as  it  seemed  found 
fresh  poison  for  its  sting. 

The  door  was  opened  by  Philippe,  the  old  man  who  in 
Madame  Marie-Gaston's  time  had  been  the  house  steward. 

**How  is  your  master?"  asked  Sallenauve. 

"  He  is  gone,  sir,"  replied  Philippe. 

"  Gone — where?" 

**  Yes,  sir,  with  the  English  gentleman  who  was  here  when 
you  left." 

**  But  without  a  word  for  me,  without  telling  you  where 
they  were  going?" 

"After  dinner,  when  all  was  well,  ray  master  suddenly  said 
that  he  wanted  a  few  things  packed  for  a  journey,  and  he  saw 
to  them  himself.  At  the  same  time,  the  Englishman,  after 
saying  he  would  walk  in  the  park  and  smoke  a  cigarette, 
mysteriously  asked  me  where  he  could  write  a  letter  without 
being  seen  by  my  master.  I  took  him  into  my  own  room,  but 
I  dared  not  ask  him  anything  about  this  journey,  for  I  never  saw 
any  one  less  communicative  or  open.     When  he  had  written 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  327 

the  letter  everything  was  ready ;  and  then,  without  a  word  of 
explanation,  the  two  gentlemen  got  into  the  English  gentle- 
man's chaise,  and  I  heard  them  tell  the  coachman  to  drive  to 
Paris " 

"But  the  letter?"  said  Sallenauve. 

"It  is  addressed  to  you,  sir,  and  the  Englishman  gave  it 
me  in  secret,  as  he  had  written  it." 

"Then  give  it  me,  my  goodman  !  "  cried  Sallenauve;  and 
without  going  any  farther  than  the  hall  where  he  had  stood 
questioning  Philippe,  he  hastily  read  it. 

His  features,  as  the  man  studied  them,  showed  great  distress. 

"  Tell  them  not  to  take  the  horses  out,"  said  he.  And  he 
read  the  letter  through  a  second  time. 

When  the  old  servant  came  back  from  delivering  the  order — 

"At  what  hour  did  they  start?"  Sallenauve  inquired. 

"  At  about  nine  o'clock." 

"They  have  three  hours'  start,"  said  the  new  deputy  to 
himself,  looking  at  his  watch,  which  marked  some  minutes 
past  midnight. 

He  turned  to  get  into  the  carriage  that  was  to  take  him 
away  again.  Just  as  he  was  stepping  into  it,  the  steward  ven- 
tured to  ask:  "There  is  nothing  alarming,  I  hope,  in  that 
letter,  sir  ?  " 

"  No,  nothing.  But  your  master  may  be  absent  some  little 
time;  take  care  to  keep  the  house  in  good  order." 

And  then,  like  the  two  who  had  preceded  him,  he  said: 
"To  Paris." 

Next  morning,  pretty  early,  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade  was  in 
his  study  very  busy  in  a  strange  way.  It  may  be  remembered 
that  Sallenauve  had  sent  him  a  statuette  of  Madame  de  I'Es- 
torade ;  he  had  never  been  able  to  find  a  place  where  the  work 
stood  to  his  mind  in  a  satisfactory  light.  But  ever  since  the 
hint  given  him  by  Rastignac  that  his  friendship  with  the 
sculptor  might  serve  him  but  ill  at  Court,  he  had  begun  to  agree 


328  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

with  his  son  Armand  that  the  artist  had  made  Madame  de 
I'Estorade  look  like  a  milliner's  apprentice ;  and  now,  when 
by  his  obduracy  to  the  minister's  inveiglements  Sallenauve 
had  shown  himself  irreclaimably  opposed  to  the  Government, 
the  statuette — its  freshness  a  little  dimmed,  it  must  be  owned, 
by  the  dust — no  longer  seemed  presentable,  and  the  worthy 
peer  was  endeavoring  to  discover  a  corner,  in  which  it  would 
be  out  of  sight,  so  that  he  might  not  be  required  to  tell  the 
name  of  the  artist,  which  every  visitor  asked,  without  making 
himself  ridiculous  by  removing  it  altogether.  So  he  was 
standing  on  the  top  step  of  a  library  ladder  with  the  sculptor's 
gift  in  his  hands  and  about  to  place  it  on  the  top  of  a  tall 
cabinet.  There  the  hapless  sketch  was  to  keep  company  with 
a  curlew  and  a  cormorant,  shot  by  Armand  during  his  last 
holidays.  They  were  the  firstfruits  of  the  young  sportsman's 
prowess,  and  paternal  pride  had  decreed  them  the  honors  of 
stuffing. 

At  this  juncture  Lucas  opened  the  door  to  show  in — 

"  Monsieur  Philippe." 

The  worthy  steward's  age,  and  the  confidential  position  he 
held  in  Marie-Gaston's  household,  had  seemed  to  the  I'Esto- 
rade's  factotum  to  qualify  him  for  the  title  of  "  monsieur  " — a 
civility  to  be,  of  course,  returned  in  kind. 

The  master  of  the  house,  descending  from  his  perch,  asked 
Philippe  what  had  brought  him,  and  whether  anything  had 
happened  at  Ville-d'Avray.  The  old  man  described  his  mas- 
ter's strange  departure,  followed  by  the  no  less  strange  disap- 
pearance of  Sallenauve,  who  had  fled  as  if  he  were  at  the  heels 
of  an  eloping  damsel,  and  then  he  went  on — 

"This  morning,  as  I  was  putting  my  master's  room  tidy,  a 
letter  fell  out  of  a  book,  addressed  to  Madame  la  Comtesse. 
As  it  was  sealed  and  ready  to  be  sent  off,  I  thought  that,  per- 
haps in  the  hurry  of  packing,  my  master  had  forgotten  to  give 
it  to  me  to  mail.  At  any  rate,  I  have  brought  it ;  Madame 
la  Comtesse  may,  perhaps,  find  that  it  contains  some  explana- 


LUCAS  OPENED  THE  DOOR  TO  SHOW  IN—    MONSIEUR 
PHILIPPE." 


^HE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  329 

tion  of  this  unexpected  journey — I  have  dreamed  of  nothing 
else  all  night." 

Monsieur  de  I'Estorade  took  the  letter. 

"Three  black  seals,"  said  he,  turning  it  over. 

"It  is  not  the  color  that  startles  me,"  said  Philippe. 
"Since  madame  died,  monsieur  uses  nothing  but  black;  but 
I  confess  the  three  seals  struck  me  as  strange." 

"Very  good,"  said  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade;  "I  will  give 
the  letter  to  my  wife." 

"  If  there  should  be  anything  to  reassure  me  about  my 
master,"  said  Philippe  wistfully,  "would  you  let  me  know, 
Monsieur  le  Comte?" 

"You  may  rely  on  it,  my  good  fellow.     Good-morning." 

"I  humbly  beg  pardon  for  having  an  opinion  to  offer," 
said  the  old  servant,  without  taking  the  hint  thus  given  him ; 
"but  for  fear  of  there  being  any  bad  news  in  the  letter,  do 
not  you  think,  Monsieur  le  Comte,  that  it  would  be  well  to 
know  it,  so  as  to  prepare  Madame  la  Comtesse  ?" 

"Why!      What!      Do  you  suppose? "    Monsieur  de 

I'Estorade  began,  without  finishing  his  question. 

"  I  do  not  know.  My  master  has  been  very  much  depressed 
these  last  few  days." 

"It  is  always  a  very  serious  step  to  open  a  letter  not  ad- 
dressed to  one's  self,"  said  the  accountant-general.  "This  case 
is  peculiar — the  letter  is  addressed  to  my  wife,  but  in  fact  was 
never  sent  to  her — it  is  really  a  puzzling  matter " 

"Still,  if  by  reading  it  you  could  prevent  something  dread- 
ful  " 

"Yes — that  is  just  what  makes  me  hesitate." 

Madame  de  I'Estorade  settled  the  question  by  coming  into 
the  room.     Lucas  had  told  her  of  old  Philippe's  arrival. 

"What  can  be  the  matter?"  she  asked,  with  uneasy  curi- 
osity. 

All  Sallenauve's  apprehensions  of  the  night  before  recurred 
to  her  mind. 


330  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

When  the  steward  had  repeated  the  explanations  he  had 
already  given  to  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  she  unhesitatingly 
broke  the  seals. 

"  I  know  so  much  now,"  she  said  to  her  husband,  who  tried 
to  dissuade  her,  "  that  the  worst  certainly  would  be  preferable 
to  the  suspense  we  should  be  left  in." 

Whatever  the  contents  of  this  alarming  epistle,  the  countess' 
face  told  nothing. 

"And  you  say  that  your  master  went  off  accompanied  by 
this  English  gentleman,"  said  she,  "  and  not  under  any  com- 
pulsion ?  " 

"On  the  contrary,  madame,  he  seemed  quite  cheerful." 

"Well,  then,  there  is  nothing  to  be  frightened  about. 
This  letter  has  been  written  a  long  time  ;  and,  in  spite  of  the 
three  black  seals,  it  has  no  bearing  on  anything  to-day." 

Philippe  bowed  and  departed.  When  the  husband  and  wife 
were  alone : 

"What  does  he  say?"  asked  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  and 
he  put  out  his  hand  for  the  letter  his  wife  still  held. 

"  No.  Do  not  read  it,"  said  the  countess,  not  surrender- 
ing it. 

"Why  not?" 

"  It  will  pain  you.  It  is  quite  enough  that  I  should  have 
had  the  shock,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  old  steward,  before 
whom  I  had  to  control  myself." 

"  Does  it  speak  of  any  purpose  of  suicide  ?  " 

Madame  de  I'Estorade  did  not  speak,  but  she  nodded 
affirmatively. 

"  But  a  definite,  immediate  purpose?" 

"The  letter  was  written  yesterday  morning;  and  to  all 
appearance,  but  for  the  really  providential  presence  of  this 
stranger,  last  evening,  during  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve's  ab- 
sence, the  wretched  man  would  have  carried  out  his  fatal 
purpose." 

"The  Englishman  has,  no  doubt,  carried  him  off  solely  to 


TffE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  331 

hinder  it.     That  being  the  case,  he  will  not  lose  sight  of 
him." 

**  We  may  also  count  on  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve's  interven. 
tion,"  observed  Madame  de  I'Estorade.  "He  has  probably 
followed  them," 

"Then  there  is  nothing  so  very  alarming  in  the  letter," 
said  her  husband.     And  again  he  held  out  his  hand  for  it. 

"  But  when  I  entreat  you  not  to  read  it,"  said  Madame  de 
I'Estorade,  holding  it  back.  "  Why  do  you  want  to  agitate 
yourself  so  painfully?  It  is  not  only  the  idea  of  suicide — our 
unhappy  friend's  mind  is  completely  unhinged." 

At  this  instant  piercing  shrieks  were  heard,  uttered  by 
Rene,  the  youngest  of  the  children,  and  this  threw  his  mother 
into  one  of  those  maternal  panics  of  which  she  was  quite 
unable  to  control  the  expression. 

"  Good  God  !  What  has  happened?"  she  cried,  rushing 
out  of  the  room. 

Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  less  easily  perturbed,  only  went  as 
far  as  the  door  to  ask  a  servant  what  was  the  matter. 

"  It  is  nothing,  Monsieur  le  Comte.  Monsieur  Rene  in 
shutting  a  drawer  pinched  the  tip  of  his  finger." 

The  peer  of  France  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  proceed 
to  the  scene  of  the  catastrophe ;  he  knew  that  in  these  cases 
he  must  leave  his  wife  to  give  free  course  to  her  extravagant 
motherly  solicitude,  or  take  a  sharp  wigging.  As  he  returned 
to  his  seat  by  the  table  he  felt  a  paper  under  his  foot  ;  it  was 
the  famous  letter,  which  Madame  de  I'Estorade  had  dropped 
as  she  flew  off  without  observing  its  fall. 

Opportunity,  and  a  sort  of  fatality  that  rules  human 
affairs,  prompted  M.  de  I'Estorade,  who  could  not  under- 
stand his  wife's  objections ;  he  hastened  to  satisfy  his  curiosity. 

Marie-Gaston  wrote  as  follows  : 

"  Madame  : — This  letter  will  not  be  so  amusing  as  those  I 
wrote   to  you  from  Arcis-sur-Aube.      But  you  must  not  be 


332  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCJS. 

frightened  by  the  determination  to  which  I  have  come.  I  am 
simply  going  to  join  my  wife,  from  whom  I  have  been  too 
long  parted,  and  to-night,  soon  after  midnight,  I  shall  be  with 
her,  never  to  leave  her  again.  You  and  Sallenauve  have,  no 
doubt,  remarked  that  it  is  strange  that  I  should  not  yet  have 
been  to  visit  her  tomb ;  two  of  my  servants  were  saying  so 
the  other  day,  not  knowing  that  I  could  overhear  them.  But 
I  should  have  been  a  great  fool  to  go  to  a  graveyard  and  stare 
at  a  block  of  stone  that  cannot  speak  to  me,  when  every  night 
as  midnight  strikes  I  hear  a  little  tap  at  my  bedroom  door, 
which  I  open  at  once  to  our  dear  Louise,  who  is  not  altered 
at  all ;  on  the  contrary,  I  think  she  is  fairer  and  lovelier. 
She  has  had  great  difficulty  in  getting  my  discharge  from  this 
world  from  Mary  the  queen  of  the  angels ;  but  last  night  she 
brought  me  my  papers  properly  made  out,  sealed  with  a  large 
seal  of  green  wax,  and  at  the  same  time  she  gave  me  a  tiny 
phial  of  hydrocyanic  acid.  One  drop  sends  me  to  sleep,  and 
when  I  wake  I  am  on  the  other  side. 

"Louise  also  gave  me  a  message  for  you;  to  tell  you  that 
Monsieur  de  I'Estorade  has  a  liver  complaint  and  cannot  live 
long ;  and  that  when  he  is  dead  you  are  to  marry  Sallenauve, 
because  over  there  you  are  always,  restored  to  the  husband  you 
loved ;  and  she  thinks  our  party  of  four  will  be  much  pleas- 
anter  with  you  and  me  and  Sallenauve  than  with  your  Mon- 
sieur de  I'Estorade,  who  is  enough  to  bore  you  to  death,  and 
whom  you  married  against  your  will. 

"  My  message  delivered,  I  have  only  to  wish  you  good 
patience,  madame,  during  the  time  you  have  still  to  spend 
down  here,  and  to  subscribe  myself  your  affectionate  humble 
servant." 

If,  on  finishing  this  letter,  it  had  occurred  to  Monsieur  de 
I'Estorade  to  look  at  himself  in  a  glass,  he  would  have  seen 
in  the  sudden  crestfallen  expression  of  his  features  the  effects 
of  the  unavowed  but  terrible  blow  he  flad  dealt  himself  by  his 


SKS  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  333 

luckless  curiosity.  His  feelings,  his  mind,  his  self-respect  had 
all  felt  one  and  the  same  shock ;  and  the  quite  obvious  in- 
sanity revealed  in  the  prediction  of  which  he  was  the  subject 
only  made  it  seem  more  threatening.  Believing,  like  the 
Moslems,  that  madmen  are  gifted  with  a  sort  of  second- 
sight,  he  gave  himself  over  at  once,  felt  a  piercing  pain  in  his 
diseased  liver,  and  was  seized  with  a  jealous  hatred  of  Salle- 
nauve,  his  designate  successor,  such  as  must  cut  off  any  kind 
of  friendly  relations  between  them. 

At  the  same  time,  as  he  saw  how  ridiculous,  how  absolutely 
devoid  of  reason,  was  the  impression  that  had  taken  possession 
of  him,  he  was  terrified  lest  any  one  should  suspect  its  exist- 
ence ;  and  with  the  instinctive  secretiveness  which  always 
prompts  the  mortally  sick  to  hide  the  mischief,  he  began  to 
consider  how  he  could  keep  from  his  wife  the  foolish  act  that 
had  blighted  his  whole  existence.  It  would  seem  incredible 
that  lying  under  his  very  eye  the  fatal  letter  should  have 
escaped  his  notice ;  and  from  this  to  the  suspicion  that  he  had 
read  it  the  inference  was  only  too  plain. 

He  rose,  and  softly  opening  the  door  of  his  room,  after 
making  sure  that  there  was  nobody  in  the  drawing-room  be- 
yond, he  went  on  tiptoe  to  throw  the  letter  on  the  floor  af 
the  farthest  side  of  the  room,  where  Madame  de  I'Estorade 
would  suppose  that  she  had  dropped  it.  Then,  like  a  school- 
boy who  had  been  playing  a  trick,  and  wishes  to  put  the 
authorities  off  the  scent  by  an  affectation  of  studiousness,  he 
hastily  strewed  his  table  with  papers  out  of  a  bulky  official 
case,  so  as  to  seem  absorbed  in  accounts  when  his  wife  should 
return. 

Meanwhile,  as  need  scarcely  be  said,  he  listened  in  case 
anybody  but  Madame  de  I'Estorade  should  come  into  the 
outer  room  where  he  had  laid  his  trap ;  in  that  case  he  would 
have  intervened  at  once  to  hinder  indiscreet  eyes  from  inves- 
tigating the  document  that  held  such  strange  secrets. 

Madame  de  I'Estorade's  voice  speaking  to  some  one,  and 


884  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

her  appearance  in  his  room  in  a  few  minutes  after  with  Mon- 
sieur Octave  de  Camps,  showed  that  the  trick  had  succeeded. 
By  going  forward  as  his  visitor  came  in,  he  could  see  through 
the  half-open  door  the  spot  where  he  had  left  the  letter.  Not 
only  was  it  gone,  but  he  could  detect  by  a  movement  of  his 
wife's  that  she  had  tucked  it  into  her  morning-gown  in  the 
place  where  Louis  XIII.  dared  not  seek  the  secrets  of  Made- 
moiselle de  Hautefort, 

**  I  have  come  to  fetch  you  to  go  with  me  to  Rastignac,  as 
we  agreed  last  evening,"  said  de  Camps. 

"Quite  right,'  said  his  friend,  putting  up  his  papers  with 
a  feverish  haste  that  showed  he  was  not  in  a  normal  frame  of 
mind. 

"Are  you  ill  ?  "  said  Madame  de  I'Estorade,  who  knew  her 
husband  too  well  not  to  be  struck  by  the  singular  absence  of 
mind  he  betrayed ;  and  at  the  same  time,  looking  him  in  the 
face,  she  observed  a  strange  change  in  his  countenance. 

"You  do  not  look  quite  yourself,  indeed,"  said  Monsieur 
de  Camps.     "  If  you  had  rather,  we  will  put  off  this  visit." 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade;  "  I  have  wor- 
ried myself  over  this  work,  and  want  pulling  together.  But 
what  about  Ren6?"  said  he  to  his  wife,  whose  inquisitive  eye 
oppressed  him.  "What  was  the  matter  that  he  screamed  so 
loud?" 

"A  mere  trifle  !  "  said  Madame  de  I'Estorade,  still  studying 
his  face. 

"Well,  then,  my  dear  fellow,"  said  her  husband,  assuming 
as  indifferent  a  manner  as  he  could  command,  "  I  have  only 
to  change  my  coat  and  I  am  yours." 

When  the  countess  was  alone  with  Monsieur  de  Camps: 

"Does  it  not  strike  you,"  said  she,  "that  Monsieur  de 
I'Estorade  seems  quite  upset  this  morning?  " 

"As  I  said  just  now,  he  is  not  at  all  himself.  But  the  ex- 
planation is  perfectly  reasonable ;  we  disturbed  him  in  the 
fiddle  of  his  wqrK,     Office  work  is  unhealthy ;  I  never  in  my 


^JIE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  336 

life  was  so  well  as  I  have  been  since  I  took  over  the  ironworks 
you  so  vehemently  abuse." 

"To  be  sure,"  said  Madame  de  TEstorade,  with  a  deep 
sigh;  "he  needs  exercise,  an  active  life;  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  he  has  some  incipient  liver  disease." 

"Because  he  looks  yellow?  But  he  has  looked  so  ever 
since  I  have  known  him." 

"Oh!  monsieur,  I  cannot  be  mistaken.  There  is  some- 
thing seriously  wrong,  and  you  would  do  me  the  greatest 
service " 

"Madame,  you  have  only  to  command  me." 

"When  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade  comes  back,  we  will  speak 
of  the  little  damage  Rene  has  done  to  his  finger.  Tell  me 
that  trifling  accidents,  if  neglected,  may  lead  to  serious  mis- 
chief— that  gangrene  has  been  known  to  supervene  and  make 
amputation  necessary.  That  will  give  me  an  excuse  for  send- 
ing for  Dr.  Bianchon." 

'Certainly,"  said  Monsieur  de  Camps.  "I  do  not  think 
medical  advice  very  necessary;  but  if  it  will  reassure  you 
that " 

At  this  moment  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade  came  back ;  he  had 
almost  recovered  his  usual  looks,  but  a  strong  smell  of  Eau  de 
Melisse  des  Carmes  proved  that  he  had  had  recourse  to  that 
cordial  to  revive  him.  Monsieur  de  Camps  played  his  part 
as  Job's  comforter  to  perfection  ;  as  to  the  countess,  she  had 
no  need  to  affect  anxiety;  her  make-believe  only  concerned 
its  object. 

"My  dear,"  said  she  to  her  husband,  after  listening  to 
the  ironmaster's  medical  discourse,  "  as  you  come  home  from 
the  minister's  I  wish  you  would  call  on  Dr.  Bianchon." 

"What  next!"  said  he,  shrugging  his  shoulders,  "call 
out  such  a  busy  man  for  what  you  yourself  say  is  a  mere 
trifle  !  " 

"If  you  will  not  go,  I  will  send  Lucas.  Monsieur  de 
Camps  has  c^uite  upset  me,'' 


336  THE   DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"  If  you  choose  to  be  ridiculous,"  said  her  husband  sharply, 
"I  know  no  means  of  preventing  it  j  but  one  thing  I  may 
remind  you,  and  that  is,  that  if  you  send  for  a  medical  man 
when  there  is  nothing  the  matter,  under  serious  circumstances 
you  may  find  that  he  will  not  come." 

**  And  you  will  not  go  ?  " 

"I  certainly  will  not,"  said  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade;  "and 
if  I  had  the  honor  of  being  master  in  my  own  house,  I  should 
forbid  your  sending  any  one  in  my  stead." 

'*  My  dear,  you  are  the  master,  and  since  you  refuse  so 
emphatically  we  will  say  no  more  about  it.  I  will  try  not  to 
be  too  anxious." 

"Are  you  coming,  de  Camps?"  said  Monsieur  de  I'Esto- 
rade, "  for  at  this  rate  I  shall  be  sent  off  directly  to  order  the 
child's  funeral." 

"But,  my  dear,  are  you  ill,"  said  the  countess,  taking  his 
hand,  "  that  you  can  say  such  shocking  things  in  cold  blood  ? 
It  is  not  like  your  usual  patience  with  my  little  motherly 
fussiness — nor  like  the  politeness  on  which  you  pride  your- 
self— to  everybody,  including  your  wife." 

"No,  but  the  truth  is,"  said  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  irri- 
tated instead  of  soothed  by  this  gentle  and  affectionate  remon- 
strance, "your  motherly  care  is  really  becoming  a  moi^omania; 
you  make  life  unbearable  to  everybody  but  your  children. 
Deuce  take  it  all !  if  they  are  our  children,  I  am  their  father; 
and  if  I  am  not  adored  as  they  are,  at  any  rate  I  have  the 
right  to  expect  that  my  house  may  not  be  made  uninhabit- 
able!  " 

While  he  poured  out  this  jeremiad,  striding  up  and  down 
the  room,  the  countess  was  gesticulating  desperately  to  Mon- 
sieur de  Camps  as  if  to  ask  him  whether  he  did  not  discern  a 
frightful  sympton  in  this  scene. 

To  put  an  end  to  this  painful  contest,  of  which  he  had  so 
involuntarily  been  the  cause,  he  now  said — 

"Are  we  going?" 


.  THE^DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  337 

"Come  along,"  said  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  leading  the 
way,  without  taking  leave  of  his  wife. 

"  Oh,  I  was  forgetting  a  message  for  you,"  added  the  iron- 
master, turning  back.  "  Madame  de  Camps  will  call  for  you 
at  about  two  o'clock  to  choose  some  spring  dress-stuffs ;  she 
has  settled  that  we  shall  all  four  go  on  afterward  to  the  flower- 
show.  When  we  leave  Rastignac,  I'Estorade  and  I  will  come 
back  to  fetch  you,  and  if  you  are  not  in  we  will  wait." 

The  countess  scarcely  heeded  this  programme ;  a  flash  of 
light  had  come  to  her.  As  soon  as  slie  was  alone  she  took 
out  Marie-Gaston's  letter,  and  finding  it  folded  in  the  original 
creases — 

"Not  a  doubt  of  it!"  she  exclaimed.  "I  remember 
replacing  it  in  the  envelope  folded  inside  out.  The  unhappy 
man  has  read  it." 

Some  hours  later  Madame  de  I'Estorade  and  Madame  de 
Camps  were  together  in  the  drawing-room  where  only  a  few 
days  since  Sallenauve's  cause  had  been  so  warmly  discussed 
and  argued. 

"Good  heavens!  what  is  the  matter  with  you?"  cried 
Madame  de  Camps,  on  finding  her  friend  in  tears  as  she 
finished  writing  a  letter. 

The  countess  told  her  of  all  that  had  passed,  and  read  her 
Marie-Gaston's  letter.  At  any  other  time  the  disaster  it  so 
plainly  betrayed  would  have  greatly  grieved  her  friend ;  but 
the  secondary  misfortune  which  it  had  apparently  occasioned 
absorbed  all  her  thoughts — 

"And  are  you  quite  sure  that  your  husband  mastered  the 
contents  of  that  ill-starred  letter?"  she  asked. 

"How  can  I  doubt  it?"  replied  Madame  de  I'Estorade. 
"  The  paper  cannot  have  turned  itself  inside  out ',  and  beside, 
when  I  recall  it  all,  I  fancy  that  at  the  moment  when  I  flew 
off  to  Ren6  I  let  something  drop.  As  ill-luck  would  have  it, 
I  did  not  stop  to  look." 
22 


338  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"  But  very  often,  when  you  rack  your  memory,  you  remem- 
ber things  that  did  not  happen." 

"But,  my  dear  friend,  the  extraordinary  change  that  so 
suddenly  took  place  in  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade  could  only  be 
due  to  some  overpowering  shock.  He  looked  like  a  man 
struck  by  lightning." 

"  Very  well ;  but  then  if  it  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  a 
painful  surprise,  why  do  you  insist  on  regarding  it  as  the 
result  of  a  liver  complaint?" 

"  Oh,  that  is  no  new  thing  to  me,"  said  Madame  de  I'Es- 
torade. "Only,  when  sick  people  make  no  complaints  one 
is  apt  to  forget.  Look  here,  my  dear,"  she  went  on,  pointing 
to  a  volume  that  lay  open  near  her,  "just  before  your  arrival 
I  was  reading  in  this  medical  dictionary  that  persons  with 
liver  disease  become  gloomy,  restless,  and  irritable.  And  for 
some  little  time  past  I  have  noticed  a  great  change  in  my 
husband's  temper;  you  yourself  remarked  on  it  the  other 
day  ;  and  this  little  scene,  at  which  Monsieur  de  Camps  was 
present — unprecedented,  I  assure  you,  in  our  married  life — 
seems  to  me  a  terrible  symptom." 

"  My  dear,  good  child,  you  are  like  all  people  when  they 
are  bent  on  worrying  themselves.  In  the  first  place,  you 
study  medical  books,  which  is  the  most  foolish  thing  in  the 
world.  I  defy  you  to  read  the  description  of  a  disease  without 
fancying  that  you  can  identify  the  symptoms  in  yourself  or  in 
some  one  for  whom  you  care.  And  beside,  you  are  mixing  up 
things  that  are  quite  different :  the  effects  of  a  fright  with 
those  of  a  chronic  complaint — they  have  nothing  on  earth  in 
common." 

"No,  no,  I  am  not  confusing  them;  I  know  what  I  am 
talking  about.  Do  not  you  know  that  in  our  poor  human 
machinery,  if  any  part  is  already  affected,  every  strong  emo- 
tion attacks  that  spot  at  once  ?  " 

"At  any  rate,"  said  her  friend,  to  put  an  end  to  the  medi- 
cal question,  "  if  that  unhappy  madman's  letter  is  likely  to 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARC  IS.  339 

have  some  ulterior  influence  on  your  husband's  health,  it 
threatens  far  more  immediately  to  imperil  your  domestic 
peace.     That  must  be  considered  first." 

"There  is  no  alternative,"  said  the  countess.  "Monsieur 
de  Sallenauve  must  never  again  set  foot  in  the  house." 

"  There  is  a  good  deal  to  be  said  on  that  point,  and  it  is 
just  what  I  want  to  talk  over  with  you.  Do  you  know  that 
yesterday  I  found  you  lacking  in  that  moderation  which  has 
always  been  a  prominent  trait  in  your  character " 

"When  was  that?"  asked  Madame  de  I'Estorade. 

"At  the  moment  when  you  favored  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve 
with  such  a  burst  of  gratitude.  When  I  advised  you  not  to 
avoid  him  for  fear  of  tempting  him  to  seek  your  company,  I 
certainly  did  not  advise  you  to  fling  your  kindness  at  his  head, 
so  as  to  turn  it !  As  the  wife  of  so  zealous  an  adherent  of  the 
reigning  dynasty,  you  ought  to  know  better  what  is  meant  by 
Le juste  milieu''^  (the  happy  medium). 

"  Oh,  my  dear,  no  witticisms  at  my  husband's  expense !  " 

"  I  am  not  talking  of  your  husband,  but  of  you,  my  dear. 
You  amazed  me  so  much  last  night,  that  I  felt  inclined  to 
recall  all  I  had  said  on  my  first  impulse.  I  like  my  advice  to 
be  followed — but  not  too  much  followed." 

"  At  any  other  moment  I  would  ask  you  to  tell  me  wherein 
I  so  far  exceeded  your  instructions;  but  now  that  fate  has 
settled  the  question,  and  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve  must  be 
simply  cleared  out  of  the  way,  of  what  use  is  it  to  discuss  the 
exact  limit-line  of  my  behavior  to  him?" 

"Well,"  said  Madame  de  Camps,  "to  tell  you  the  whole 
truth,  I  was  beginning  to  think  the  man  a  danger  to  you  on 
quite  another  side." 

"Which  is? " 

"  Through  Nals.  That  child,  with  her  passion  for  her  pre- 
server, really  makes  me  very  anxious." 

"  Oh,"  said  the  countess,  with  a  melancholy  smile,  "  is  not 
that  ascribing  too  much  importance  to  a  child's  nonsense?" 


340  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"NaTs  is  a  child,  no  doubt,  but  who  will  be  a  woman 
sooner  than  most  children.  Did  you  not  yourself  write  me 
that  she  had  intuitions  on  some  subjects  quite  beyond  her 
years?" 

"  That  is  true.  But  in  what  you  call  her  passion  for  Mon- 
sieur de  Sallenauve,  beside  its  being  quite  natural,  the  dear 
child  is  so  frank  and  effusive  that  the  feeling  has  a  genuinely 
childlike  stamp." 

"  Well — trust  me,  and  do  not  trust  to  that ;  not  even  when 
this  troublesome  person  is  out  of  the  way  !  Think,  if  when 
the  time  came  to  arrange  for  her  marriage  this  liking  had 
grown  up  with  her — a  pretty  state  of  things !  " 

"Oh,  between  this  and  then — thank  heaven! "  said 

the  countess  incredulously. 

"Between  this  and  then,"  replied  Madame  de  Camps, 
"  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve  may  have  achieved  such  success 
that  his  name  is  in  everybody's  mouth;  and  with  her  lively 
imagination,  Nais  would  be  the  first  to  be  captivated  by  such 
brilliancy." 

"But  still,  my  dear,  the  difference  of  age " 

"  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve  is  thirty;  Nai's  is  nearly  thirteen. 
The  difference  is  exactly  the  same  as  between  your  age  and 
Monsieur  de  I'Estorade's,  and  you  married  him." 

"Quite  true;  you  may  be  right,"  said  Madame  de  I'Esto- 
rade;  "what  I  did  as  a  matter  of  good  sense,  NaTs  might 
insist  on  passionately.  But  be  easy;  I  will  so  effectually 
shatter  her  idol " 

"  That  again,  like  the  hatred  you  propose  to  act  for  your 
husband's  benefit,  requires  moderation.  If  you  do  not  manage 
it  gradually,  you  may  fail  of  your  end.  You  must  allow  it  to 
be  supposed  that  circumstances  have  brought  about  a  feeling 
which  should  seem  quite  spontaneous." 

"But  do  you  suppose,"  cried  Madame  de  I'Estorade  ex- 
citedly, "  that  I  need  act  aversion  for  this  man  ?  Why,  I  hate 
him  !     He  is  our  evil  genius  1  " 


Tim  ^DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  341 

"Come,  come,  my  dear,  you  must  compose  yourself!  I 
really  do  not  know  you.  You  who  used  to  be  unruffled  rea- 
son incarnate ! " 

Lucas  at  this  moment  came  in  to  ask  the  countess  if  she 
could  see  a  Monsieur  Jacques  Bricheteau. 

Madame  de  I'Estorade  looked  at  her  friend,  saying — 

"  The  organist  who  was  so  helpful  to  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve 
at  the  time  of  his  election,  I  do  not  know  what  he  can  want 
of  me." 

"  Never  mind ;  sec  him,"  said  her  friend.  "  Before  open- 
ing hostilities,  it  is  not  amiss  to  know  what  is  going  on  in  the 
enemy's  camp." 

"  Show  him  in,"  said  the  countess. 

Jacques  Bricheteau  came  in.  So  sure  had  he  been,  on  the 
other  hand,  of  being  among  friends,  that  he  had  given  no 
special  attention  to  his  toilet.  A  capacious  chocolate-brown 
overcoat,  whose  cut  it  would  have  been  vain  to  assign  to  any 
date  of  fashion ;  a  checked  vest,  gray  and  green,  buttoned 
to  the  throat ;  a  black  cravat,  twisted  to  a  rope,  and  worn 
without  a  collar,  while  it  showed  an  inch  of  very  doubt- 
fully clean  shirt-front ;  yellow  drab  trousers,  gray  stockings, 
and  tied  shoes — this  was  the  more  than  careless  array  in 
which  the  organist  ventured  into  the  presence  of  the  elegant 
countess. 

Scarcely  bidden  to  take  a  seat — 

"Madame,"  said  he,  "I  have  perhaps  taken  a  liberty  in 
presenting  myself  to  you,  unknown ;  but  Monsieur  Marie- 
Gaston  spoke  to  me  of  your  possibly  wishing  that  I  should 
give  some  lessons  to  mademoiselle  your  daughter.  I  told  him 
at  first  that  there  might  be  some  little  difficulty,  as  all  my  time 
was  filled  up ;  but  the  prefect  of  police  has  just  set  me  at 
leisure  by  dismissing  me  from  a  post  I  held  in  his  department, 
so  I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  place  myself  entirely  at  your 
service." 

"And  has  your  dismissal,  monsieur,  been  occasioned  by  the 


342  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

part  you  played  in  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve's  election?  "  asked 
Madame  de  Camps. 

"As  no  reason  was  assigned,  it  seems  probable ;  all  the  more 
so  that,  in  the  course  of  twenty  years'  service,  this  discharge 
is  the  very  first  hitch  that  has  ever  arisen  between  me  and  ray 
superiors." 

"  It  cannot  be  denied,"  said  Madame  de  I'Estorade,  sharply 
enough,  "  that  you  very  seriously  interfered  with  the  intentions 
of  the  Government." 

"  Yes,  madame,  and  I  accepted  my  dismissal  as  a  disaster  I 
was  quite  prepared  for.  After  all,  what  was  the  loss  of  my 
small  appointment  in  comparison  with  the  election  of  Mon- 
sieur de  Sallenauve  ?  " 

"I  am  really  distressed,"  the  countess  went  on,  "  to  make 
no  better  return  for  the  eagerness  you  are  good  enough  to 
express ;  but  I  may  as  well  tell  you  that  I  have  no  fixed  pur- 
pose as  to  choosing  a  master  for  my  daughter,  and  in  spite  of 
the  immense  talent  for  which  the  world  gives  you  credit,  I 
should  be  afraid  of  such  serious  teaching  for  a  little  girl  of 
thirteen." 

"  Quite  the  reverse,  madame,"  replied  the  organist.  "  No- 
body credits  me  with  talent.  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve  and 
Monsieur  Marie-Gaston  have  heard  me  two  or  three  times,  but 
apart  from  that,  I  am  a  mere  unknown  teacher,  and  perhaps 
you  are  right — perhaps  a  very  tiresome  one.  So,  setting  aside 
the  question  of  lessons  to  mademoiselle  your  daughter,  let  me 
speak  of  the  thing  that  has  really  brought  me  here — Monsieur 
de  Sallenauve." 

"  Did  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve  charge  you  with  any  mes- 
sage to  my  husband?"  said  Madame  de  I'Estorade,  with 
marked  coldness. 

"  No,  madame,  he  has,  I  grieve  to  say,  charged  me  with 
nothing.  I  went  to  call  on  him  this  morning,  but  he  was 
absent.  I  went  to  Ville-d'Avray,  where  I  was  told  that  I 
should  find  him,  and  learned  that  he  had  started  on  a  journey 


THE  ^^PUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  843 

with  Monsieur  Marie-Gaston,  Then,  thinking  that  you  might 
possibly  know  the  object  of  this  journey,  and  how  long  he 
would  be  away " 

"Nothing  of  the  kind,"  said  Madame  de  I'Estorade,  in- 
terrupting him  in  a  hard  tone. 

"I  had  a  letter  this  morning,"  Jacques  Bricheteau  went 
on,  "from  Arcis-sur-Aube.  My  aunt.  Mother  Marie  des 
Anges,  warns  me,  through  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve's  notary, 
that  a  base  conspiracy  is  being  organized,  and  our  friend's 
absence  complicates  matters  very  seriously.  I  cannot  under- 
stand what  put  it  into  his  head  to  vanish  without  warning 
anybody  who  takes  an  interest " 

"  That  he  should  not  have  given  you  notice,"  said  Madame 
de  I'Estorade,  in  the  same  tone,  "may  possibly  surprise  you. 
But  so  far  as  my  husband  and  I  are  concerned,  there  is  noth- 
ing to  be  astonished  at." 

The  significance  of  this  uncivil  distinction  was  too  clear  to 
be  misunderstood.  Jacques  Bricheteau  looked  at  the  countess, 
and  her  eyes  fell ;  but  the  whole  expression  of  her  face,  set 
due  North,  confirmed  the  meaning  which  it  was  impossible  to 
avoid  finding  in  her  words. 

After  an  awkward  pause : 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  madame,"  said  he,  rising.  "I  did 
not  know — I  could  not  have  supposed  that  you  were  so  utterly 
indifferent  to  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve's  prospects  and  honor. 
But  a  minute  ago,  in  the  anteroom,  when  your  servant  was  in 
doubt  about  announcing  me,  mademoiselle  your  daughter,  on 
hearing  that  I  was  a  friend  of  his,  eagerly  took  my  part ;  and 
I  was  so  foolish  as  to  conclude  that  she  represented  the  general 
good  feeling  of  the  family." 

After  pointing  this  distinction,  which  was  quite  a  match 
for  Madame  de  I'Estorade's,  thus  paying  her  back  in  her  own 
coin,  Jacques  Bricheteau  bowed  ceremoniously,  and  was  about 
to  leave. 

The  two  ladies  exchanged  a  glance,  as  if  to  ask  each  other 


344  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

whether  it  would  be  well  to  let  this  man  depart  thus  after 
shooting  so  keen  a  parting  dart. 

In  fact,  a  crushing  contradiction  was  at  this  instant  given 
to  the  countess'  assumption  of  indifference :  NaTs  came  fly- 
ing in. 

"  Mamma  !  "  she  cried  exultantly,  **  a  letter  from  Monsieur 
de  Sallenauve !  " 

The  countess  blushed  purple. 

"  What  manners  are  these,  bouncing  in  like  a  mad  thing?  " 
said  she  severely.  "  And  how  do  you  know  that  the  letter  is 
from  that  gentleman  ?  " 

**  Oh  !  "  said  NaTs,  turning  the  blade  in  the  wound,  **  when 
he  wrote  to  you  from  Arcis,  I  got  to  know  his  writing." 

**  You  are  a  silly,  inquisitive  child,"  said  her  mother,  roused 
out  of  her  usual  indulgence  by  so  many  luckless  speeches. 
**Go  to  nurse." 

Then  to  give  herself  some  countenance — 

"Allow  me,  monsieur,"  said  she  to  Jacques  Bricheteau,  as 
she  opened  the  letter  so  inappropriately  delivered. 

"Nay,  Madame  la  Comtesse,"  replied  the  organist,  "it  is 
I  who  crave  your  permission  to  wait  till  you  have  read  your 
letter.  If  by  any  chance  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve  should  give 
you  any  account  of  his  movements,  you  would  perhaps  have 
the  kindness  to  give  me  the  benefit  of  it " 

Having  looked  through  the  letter — 

"  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve,"  said  the  countess,  "desires  me 
to  tell  my  husband  that  he  is  on  his  way  to  England — Han- 
well,  in  the  county  of  Middlesex.  He  is  to  be  addressed 
under  cover  to  Doctor  Ellis." 

Jacques  Bricheteau  again  bowed  with  due  formality,  and 
left  the  room. 

"Nais  has  just  treated  you  to  a  taste  of  her  girl-in-love 
tricks,"  said  Madame  de  Camps.  "But  you  had  well  earned 
it.  You  had  behaved  to  that  poor  man  with  a  hardness  that 
deserved  a  severer  sally  than  his  parting  retort.     He  seems  to 


*THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  S45 

have  a  ready  wit  of  his  own  ;  and  ^If  by  any  chance'  Monsieur 
de  Sallenauve  had  given  you  any  information,  was  rather  neat 
under  the  circumstances." 

"  What  is  to  be  done  ?  "  said  her  friend  ;  "  the  day  began 
badly;  all  the  rest  is  to  match." 

"What  about  the  letter?" 

**  It  is  heart-breaking.     Read  it." 

"Madame: — I  succeeded  in  overtaking  Lord  Lewin  a  few 
leagues  beyond  Paris — he  is  the  Englishman  of  whom  I  spoke 
to  you,  and  Providence  sent  him  to  spare  us  a  terrible  catas- 
trophe. Possessed  of  a  large  fortune,  he,  like  many  of  his 
countrymen,  is  liable  to  attacks  of  depression,  and  only  his 
strength  of  mind  has  saved  him  from  the  worst  results  of  the 
malady.  His  indifference  to  life,  and  the  cool  stoicism  with 
which  he  speaks  of  voluntary  death,  won  him  at  Florence, 
where  they  met,  our  unhappy  friend's  confidence.  Lord 
Lewin,  who  is  interested  in  the  study  of  vehement  emotions, 
is  intimately  acquainted  with  Dr.  Ellis,  a  physician  famous 
for  his  treatment  of  the  insane,  and  his  lordship  has  often 
sp)ent  some  weeks  at  the  Hanwell  Asylum  for  Lunatics  in 
Middlesex.  It  is  one  of  the  best-managed  asylums  in  Eng- 
land, and  Dr.  Ellis  is  at  the  head  of  it. 

"  Lord  Lewin,  on  arriving  at  Ville-d'Avray,  at  once  dis- 
cerned in  Marie-Gaston  the  early  symptoms  of  acute  mania. 
Though  not  yet  obvious  to  superficial  observers,  they  did  not 
escape  Lord  Lewin's  practiced  eye.  *  He  picked  and  hoarded,' 
said  he,  in  speaking  of  our  poor  friend  ;  that  is  to  say,  as  they 
walked  about  the  park  Marie-Gaston  would  pick  up  such  rub- 
bish as  straws,  old  bits  of  paper,  and  even  rusty  nails,  putting 
them  carefully  in  his  pocket ;  and  this,  it  would  seem,  is  a 
symptom  familiar  to  those  who  have  studied  the  progress  of 
mental  disease.  Then,  by  recurring  to  the  discussions  they 
had  held  at  Florence,  Lord  Lewin  had  no  difficulty  in  dis- 
covering his  secret  purpose  of  killing  himself.     Believing  that 


346  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

his  wife  visited  him  every  evening,  the  poor  fellow  had  deter- 
mined— on  the  very  night  of  your  little  dance — to  follow  his 
adored  Louise,  as  he  said.  So,  you  see,  my  fears  werfe  not 
exaggerated,  but  were  the  outcome  of  an  instinct. 

"  Lord  Lewin,  instead  of  opposing  his  resolution,  affected 
to  participate  in  it. 

"  *  But  men  like  us,'  said  he,  *  ought  not  to  die  in  any  vulgar 
way,  and  there  is  a  mode  of  death  of  which  I  had  thought  for 
myself,  and  which  I  propose  that  we  should  seek  in  common. 
In  South  America,  not  far  from  Paraguay,  there  is  one  of  the 
most  tremendous  cataracts  in  the  world,  known  as  the  Falls 
of  Gayra.  The  spray  that  rises  from  the  abyss  is  to  be  seen 
for  many  leagues,  and  reflects  seven  rainbows.  A  vast  volume 
of  water,  spreading  over  a  breadth  of  more  than  twelve  thou- 
sand feet,  is  suddenly  pent  up  in  a  narrow  channel,  and  falls 
into  a  gulf  below  with  a  sound  more  deafening  than  a  hundred 
thunderclaps  at  once.  That  is  where  I  have  always  dreamed 
of  dying.' 

** '  Let  us  be  off,'  said  Marie-Gaston. 

**  *  This  very  minute,'  said  Lord  Lewin.  '  Pack  your 
things ;  we  will  sail  from  England,  and  be  there  in  a  few 
weeks. ' 

"And  in  this  way,  madame,  the  clever  foreigner  succeeded 
in  putting  our  friend  off  from  his  dreadful  purpose.  As  you 
may  understand,  he  is  taking  him  to  England  to  place  him 
in  Dr.  Ellis'  care,  since  he — Lord  Lewin  says — has  not  his 
match  in  Europe  for  treating  the  very  sad  case  that  is  to  be 
confided  to  him. 

**  Informed  by  a  letter  left  for  me  by  Lord  Lewin  at  Ville- 
d'Avray,  I  immediately  set  out  in  pursuit ;  and  at  Beauvais, 
whence  I  am  writing,  I  came  up  with  them  in  a  hotel,  where 
Lord  Lewin  had  put  up  to  enable  the  patient  to  benefit  by 
sleep,  which  had  happily  come  over  him  in  the  carriage,  after 
several  weeks  of  almost  total  insomnia.  Lord  Lewin  looks 
vpon  this  as  a  very  favorable  symptom,  and  he  says  that  the 


THE^  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  347 

malady  thus  treated,  as  it  will  be  from  the  beginning,  has  the 
best  possible  chance  of  cure. 

"  I  shall  follow  them  closely  to  Hanwell,  taking  care  not 
to  be  seen  by  Marie-Gaston,  since,  in  Lord  Lewin's  opinion, 
my  presence  might  disturb  the  comparative  tranquillity  of 
mind  that  he  has  derived  from  the  thought  of  the  pompous 
end  he  is  going  to  find.  On  reaching  the  asylum,  I  shall 
wait  to  hear  Dr.  Ellis'  verdict. 

"  The  session  opens  so  soon  that  I  fear  I  may  not  be  back 
in  time  for  the  first  sittings ;  but  I  shall  write  to  the  president 
of  the  Chamber,  and  if  it  should  happen  that  any  difficulty 
arise  as  to  the  leave  of  absence  for  which  I  must  petition,  I 
venture  to  rely  on  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade's  kindness  to  certify 
the  absolute  necessity  for  it.  At  the  same  time,  I  must  beg 
him  to  remember  that  I  cannot  authorize  him  on  any  con- 
sideration to  reveal  the  nature  of  the  business  which  has  com- 
pelled me  to  go  abroad.  However,  the  mere  statement  of  a 
fact  by  such  a  man  as  M.  de  I'Estorade  must  be  enough  to 
secure  its  acceptance  without  any  explanation. 
.    "Allow  me,  madame,  to  remain,  etc." 

As  Madame  de  Camps  finished  reading,  carriage  wheels 
were  heard. 

"There  are  our  gentlemen  back  again,"  said  the  countess. 
"  Now,  shall  I  show  this  letter  to  my  husband  ?  " 

"  You  cannot  do  otherwise.  There  would  be  too  great  a 
risk  of  what  NaTs  might  say.  Beside,  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve 
writes  most  respectfully ;  there  is  nothing  to  encourage  your 
husband's  notions." 

As  soon  as  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade  came  in,  his  wife  could 
see  that  he  had  recovered  his  usual  looks,  and  she  was  about 
to  congratulate  him,  when  he  spoke  first. 

"Who  is  the  man  of  very  shabby  appearance,"  asked  Mon- 
sieur de  I'Estorade,  "  whom  I  found  speaking  to  Nais  on  the 
stairs  ?  " 


34t  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

As  his  wife  did  not  seem  to  know  what  he  was  talking 
about,  he  went  on  :  **  A  man  very  much  marked  by  the  small- 
pox, with  a  greasy  hat  and  a  brown  overcoat  ? '  * 

"  Oh  !  "  said  Madame  de  Camps  to  her  friend,  *'  our 
visitor !  NaTs  could  not  resist  the  opportunity  of  talking 
about  her  idol." 

**  But  who  is  the  man  ?  " 

"  Is  not  his  name  Jacques  Brichcteau?"  said  the  countess, 
**  a  friend  of  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve's." 

Seeing  a  cloud  fall  on  her  husband's  countenance,  Madame 
de  I'Estorade  hurriedly  explained  the  two  objects  of  the  or- 
ganist's visit,  and  she  gave  the  member's  letter  to  Monsieur 
de  I'Estorade. 

While  he  was  reading  it — 

"He  seems  better,  do  you  think?"  the  countess  asked 
Monsieur  de  Camps. 

**0h,  he  is  perfectly  right  again,"  said  the  ironmaster. 
*'  There  is  not  a  sign  of  what  we  saw  this  morning.  He  had 
worried  himself  over  his  work  ;  exercise  has  done  him  good  ; 
and  yet  it  is  to  be  observed  that  he  had  an  unpleasant  shock 
just  now  at  the  minister's." 

"Why,  what  happened?  "  asked  Madame  de  I'Estorade. 

**  Your  friend  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve's  business  seems  to 
be  in  a  bad  way." 

"  Thank  you  for  nothing  !  "  said  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade, 
returning  the  letter  to  his  wife.  "  I  shall  certainly  not  do 
the  thing  he  asks  me." 

"Then  have  you  heard  anything  against  him?"  said  she, 
trying  to  appear  perfectly  indifferent  as  she  asked  the  question. 

"Yes;  Rastignac  told  me  that  he  had  letters  from  Arcis  ; 
some  very  awkward  discoveries  have  been  made  there." 

**  Well,  what  did  I  tell  you  ?  "  cried  Madame  de  I'Estorade. 

"What  did  you  tell  me?" 

"  To  be  sure.  Did  I  not  give  you  a  hint  some  time  ago 
that   Monsieur   de   Sallenauve  was   a   man  to  be  let  drop? 


:^E  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  349 

Those  were  the  very  words  I  used,  as  I  happen  to  just  remem- 
ber." 

"  But  was  it  I  who  brought  him  here?  " 

"You  can  hardly  say  that  it  was  I.  Only  just  now,  before 
knowing  anything  of  the  distressing  facts  you  have  just 
learned,  I  was  speaking  to  Madame  de  Camps  of  another 
reason  which  should  make  us  anxious  to  put  an  end  to  the 
acquaintance." 

"Very  true,"  said  Madame  de  Camps.  "Your  wife,  but 
a  minute  ago,  was  talking  of  the  sort  of  frenzy  that  possesses 
Nals  with  regard  to  her  preserver,  and  she  foresaw  great  diffi- 
culties in  the  future." 

"  It  is  an  unsatisfactory  connection  in  every  way,"  said 
Monsieur  de  I'Estorade. 

"It  seems  to  me,"  said  Monsieur  de  Camps,  who  was  not 
behind  the  scenes,  "  that  you  are  rather  in  a  hurry.  Some 
compromising  discoveries  are  said  to  have  been  made  with 
reference  to  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve,  but  what  is  the  value  of 
these  discoveries  ?  Wait  before  you  hang  him,  at  least  till  he 
has  been  tried  ?  " 

"My  husband  can  do  what  he  thinks  proper,"  said  the 
countess.  "  For  my  part,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  throw  him  over 
at  once.  My  friends,  like  Caesar's  wife,  must  be  above  sus- 
picion." 

"The  awkward  thing,"  said  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  "is 
that  we  are  under  such  an  annoying  obligation  to  him " 

"  But,  really,"  exclaimed  Madame  de  I'Estorade,  "  if  a 
convict  had  saved  my  life,  should  I  be  obliged  to  receive  him 
in  my  drawing-room  ?  " 

"  Indeed,  my  dear,  you  are  going  too  far,"  said  Madame 
de  Camps. 

"Well,  well,"  said  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  "there  is  no 
occasion  to  raise  a  scandal ;  things  must  be  allowed  to  take 
their  course.  The  dear  man  is  abroad  now ;  who  knows  if 
he  will  ever  come  back  ?  " 


350  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"What,  he  has  fled  at  a  mere  rumor?"  said  Monsieur  de 
Camps. 

"  Not  precisely  on  that  account,"  replied  the  count,  *'  He 
had  a  pretext — but  once  out  of  France " 

*' As  to  that  conclusion,"  said  Madame  de  I'Estorade,  "I 
do  not  for  a  moment  believe  In  it.  His  pretext  is  a  good 
reason,  and  as  soon  as  he  hears  from  his  friend  the  organist  he 
will  hurry  back.  So,  my  dear,  you  must  take  your  courage  in 
both  hands  and  cut  the  intimacy  short  at  a  blow  if  you  do 
not  intend  it  to  continue." 

"And  that  is  really  your  meaning?"  said  Monsieur  de 
I'Estorade,  looking  keenly  at  his  wife. 

"  I  ?  I  would  write  him  without  any  sort  of  ceremony, 
and  tell  him  that  he  will  oblige  us  by  calling  here  no  more. 
At  the  same  time,  as  it  is  a  little  difficult  to  write  such  a 
letter,  we  will  concoct  it  together  if  you  like." 

"We  will  see,"  said  her  husband,  beaming  at  the  sugges- 
tion ;  "the  house  is  not  falling  yet.  The  most  pressing 
matter  at  the  moment  is  the  flower-show  we  are  to  go  to 
together.  It  closes,  I  think,  at  four  o'clock,  and  we  have  but 
an  hour  before  us." 

Madame  de  I'Estorade,  who  had  dressed  before  Madame 
de  Camps'  arrival,  rang  for  the  maid  to  bring  her  bonnet  and 
shawl. 

As  she  was  putting  them  on  in  front  of  a  glass — 

"Then  you  really  love  me,  Ren6e?"  said  her  husband  in 
her  ear. 

"Can  you  be  so  silly  as  to  ask?"  replied  she,  giving  him 
her  most  affectionate  look. 

"Well,  I  have  a  confession  to  make  to  you — I  read  the 
letter  Philippe  brought." 

"Then  I  am  no  longer  surprised  at  the  change  that  came 
over  you.  I  too  must  tell  you  something.  When  I  proposed 
that  we  should  concoct  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve's  dismissal 
between  us,  I  had  already  written  it — directly  after  you  went 


^HE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  861 

<■ 

out ;  and  you  can  take  it  out  of  my  blotting-book  and  post  it 
if  you  think  it  will  do." 

Quite  beside  himself  with  joy  at  finding  that  his  hypo- 
thetical successor  had  been  so  immediately  sacrificed,  Mon- 
sieur de  I'Estorade  threw  his  arms  round  his  wife  and  kissed 
her  effusively. 

**  Well  done  !  "  cried  Monsieur  de  Camps.  "  This  is  better 
than  this  morning  !  " 

"This  morning  I  was  a  fool,"  said  the  count,  as  he  turned 
over  the  blotting-book  to  find  the  letter,  which  he  might  have 
taken  his  wife's  word  for. 

"Say  no  more,"  said  Madame  de  Camps  in  an  undertone 
to  her  husband.  "I  will  explain  all  this  pother  to  you  pres- 
ently." 

Younger  again  by  ten  years,  the  count  offered  his  arm  to 
Madame  de  Camps,  while  his  wife  took  that  of  the  provincial 
ironmaster's. 

"And  Nais?"  said  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  seeing  the 
little  girl  looking  forlorn  as  they  went.  **  Is  not  she  coming 
too!" 

"No,"  said  her  mother;  "I  am  not  pleased  with  her." 

"  Pooh  !  "  said  the  father,  "  I  proclaim  an  amnesty.  Run 
and  put  your  bonnet  on,"  he  added  to  the  child. 

Nais  looked  at  her  mother  for  the  ratification  which  she 
thought  necessary  under  the  hierarchy  of  power  as  it  existed 
in  the  I'Estorade  household. 

"Go,"  said  the  countess,  "  since  your  father  wishes  it." 

While  they  waited  for  the  little  girl — 

"To  whom  are  you  writing,  Lucas?"  asked  the  count  of 
the  manservant,  who  had  begun  a  letter  on  the  table  by  which 
he  stood. 

"  To  my  son,"  said  Lucas,  "  who  is  very  anxious  to  get  his 
sergeant'b  stripes.  I  am  telling  him  that  you  promised  me  a 
note  to  his  colonel.  Monsieur  le  Comte." 

"  Perfectly  true,  on  my  honor ;  and  I  had  quite  forgotten  it. 


352  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

Remind  me  to-morrow  morning ;  I  will  write  it  the  first  thing 
when  I  get  up." 

"You  are  very  good,  sir " 

"Here,"  said  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  putting  his  fingers 
in  his  vest  pocket  and  taking  out  three  gold-pieces,  "send 
these  to  the  corporal  from  me,  and  tell  him  to  get  his  men  to 
drink  to  his  stripes." 

Lucas  was  amazed ;  he  had  never  known  his  master  so 
genial  and  liberal. 

When  NaTs  was  ready,  Madame  de  I'Estorade,  proud  of 
having  had  the  courage  to  leave  her  in  disgrace  for  half  an 
hour,  hugged  her  as  if  she  had  not  seen  her  for  two  years ; 
then  they  all  set  out  for  the  Luxembourg,  where  the  Horticul- 
tural Society  at  that  time  held  its  shows. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  interview  which  Monsieur  Octave  de 
Camps,  under  the  auspices  of  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade,  had  at 
last  been  able  to  get  with  Rastignac,  the  minister's  usher  had 
come  in  to  give  him  the  cards  of  Monsieur  le  Procureur- 
General  Vinet  and  Monsieur  Maxime  de  Trailles. 

"Very  well,"  said  the  minister.  "Tell  the  gentlemen  I 
will  see  them  in  a  few  minutes." 

Soon  after,  the  ironmaster  and  Monsieur  de  I'Estorade  rose 
to  leave ;  and  it  was  then  that  Rastignac  had  briefly  told  the 
count  of  the  danger  looming  on  the  parliamentary  horizon 
of  his  friend  Sallenauve.  At  the  word  "friend,"  Monsieur 
de  I'Estorade  had  protested. 

"I  do  not  know,  my  dear  minister,"  said  he,  "  why  you 
persist  in  giving  that  name  to  a  man  who  is  really  no  more 
than  an  acquaintance,  I  might  say  a  provisional  acquaintance, 
if  the  reports  you  have  mentioned  should  prove  to  have  any 
foundation." 

"I  am  delighted  to  hear  you  say  so,"  replied  Rastignac. 
"For  in  the  thick  of  the  hostilities  which  seem  likely  to  arise 
between  that  gentleman  and  our  side,  I  confess  that  the  warm 


THE  DEPLTY  FOR  ARCIS.  353 

feeling  I  imagined  you  to  have  toward  him  would  somewhat 
have  fettered  me." 

"I  am  grateful  for  your  consideration,"  replied  the  count; 
"but  pray  understand  that  I  give  you  a  free  hand.  It  is  a 
matter  entirely  at  your  discretion  to  treat  Monsieur  de  Salle- 
nauve  as  a  political  foe,  without  any  fear  that  the  blows  you 
deal  him  will  at  all  hurt  me." 

Thereupon  they  left,  and  Messieurs  Vinet  and  de  Trailles 
had  been  shown  in. 

Vinet,  the  attorney-general,  and  father  of  Olivier  Vinet, 
whom  the  reader  already  knows,  was  one  of  the  warmest 
champions  and  most  welcome  advisers  of  the  existing  Govern- 
ment. Designate  as  the  minister  of  justice  at  the  next  shuf- 
fling of  the  Cabinet,  he  was  behind  the  scenes  of  every  am- 
biguous situation ;  and  in  every  secret  job  nothing  was  con- 
cocted without  his  cooperation,  in  the  plot  at  least,  if  not  in 
the  doing. 

The  electoral  affairs  of  Arcis  had  a  twofold  claim  on  his  in- 
terference. First,  because  his  son  held  a  position  among  the 
legal  magnates  of  the  town ;  secondly,  because  as  connected 
through  his  wife  with  the  Chargebceufs  of  la  Brie,  the  Cinq- 
Cygnes  of  Champagne  being  a  younger  branch  of  that  family, 
this  aristocratic  alliance  made  him  think  it  a  point  of  honor 
to  assert  his  importance  in  both  districts,  and  never  to  miss  a 
chance  of  interfering  in  their  affairs. 

So,  that  morning,  when  Monsieur  de  Trailles  had  called 
on  the  minister,  armed  with  a  letter  from  Madame  Beau- 
visage,  full  of  compromising  scandal  concerning  the  new 
deputy  for  Arcis — 

"Find  Vinet,  as  coming  from  me,"  said  Rastignac,  with- 
out listening  to  any  explanations,  "and  try  to  bring  him  here 
as  soon  as  possible." 

At  Maxime's  bidding — who  offered  to  fetch  him  in  his 
carriage — Vinet  was  quite  ready  to  go  to  Rastignac ;  and  now 
that  he  has  made  his  way  to  the  minister's  private  room,  we 
23 


364  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARC  IS. 

shall  be  better  informed  as  to  the  danger  hanging  over  Salle- 
nauve's  head,  of  which  Jacques  Bricheteau  and  Monsieur  de 
I'Estorade  have  given  us  but  a  slight  idea. 

"Then  you  mean,  my  dear  friends,"  said  the  minister  as 
soon  as  they  had  settled  to  their  talk,  "  that  we  may  get  some 
hold  on  this  political  purist  !  I  met  him  yesterday  at  I'Es- 
torade's,  and  he  struck  me  as  most  undauntedly  hostile." 

Maxime,  whose  presence  was  in  no  sense  official,  knew 
better  than  to  answer  this  remark.  Vinet,  on  the  contrary, 
almost  insolently  conscious  of  his  political  importance,  public 
prosecutor  as  he  was,  had  too  much  of  the  advocate  in  his 
composition  to  miss  a  chance  of  speaking. 

"When,  only  this  morning,  monsieur" — and  he  bowed  to 
Maxime — "  did  me  the  honor  to  communicate  to  me  a  letter 
he  had  received  from  Madame  Beauvisage,  I  had  just  had  one 
from  my  son,  in  which  he  gave  me,  with  slight  variations, 
the  same  information.  I  agree  with  him  that  the  matter 
looks  ugly  for  our  adversary — but  it  will  need  nice  manage- 
ment." 

"I  really  hardly  know  what  the  matter  is,"  said  the  min- 
ister. "As  -"I  particularly  wished  for  your  opinion  on  the 
case,  my  dear  Vinet,  I  begged  Monsieur  de  Trailles  to  post- 
pone the  details  till  we  were  all  three  together." 

This  was  authorizing  Maxime  to  proceed  with  the  narrative, 
but  Vinet  again  seized  the  opportunity  for  hearing  his  own 
voice. 

"This,"  said  he,  "  is  what  my  son  Olivier  writes  to  me, 
confirming  Madame  Beauvisage's  letter — she,  I  may  say  in- 
cidentally, would  have  made  a  famous  deputy  to  parliament, 
my  dear  sir.  On  a  market-day  not  long  since,  Pigoult  the 
notary,  who  has  the  management  of  all  the  new  deputy's 
business  matters,  received  a  visit,  it  would  seem,  from  a  peas- 
ant-woman from  Romilly,  a  large  village  not  far  from  Arcis. 
To  hear  the  Marquis  de  Sallenauve,  who  has  so  suddenly 
reappeared,  you  would  think  that  he  was  the  only  existing 


TH^J^PUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 


355 


scion  of  the  Sallenauve  family ;  but  this  did  not  prevent  this 
woman  from  displaying  some  papers  in  due  form,  proving  that 
she  too  is  a  living  Sallenauve,  in  the  direct  line,  and  related 
nearly  enough  to  claim  her  part  in  any  heritable  property." 

"Well,"  said  Rastignac,  "but  did  she  know  no  more  of 
the  marquis'  existence  than  he  knew  of  hers?" 

"  That  did  not  plainly  appear  from  her  statements,"  said 
Vinet;  "but  that  very  confusion  seems  to  me  most  convinc- 
ing, for,  as  you  know,  between  relations  in  such  diflFerent 
positions  great  difficulties  are  apt  to  arise." 

"Kindly  proceed  with  the  story,"  said  the  minister. 
"  Before  drawing  conclusions,  we  must  hear  the  facts — 
though,  as  you  know  by  experience,  that  is  not  the  invariable 
practice  in  parliament." 

"Not  always  to  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  ministers,"  said 
Maxime,  laughing. 

"Monsieur  is  right,"  said  Vinet;  "all  hail  to  a  successful 
muddler  !  But  to  return  to  our  peasant-woman,  who,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  ruin  of  the  Sallenauve  family,  has  fallen  into 
great  poverty  and  a  station  far  beneath  her  birth ;  she  first 
appeared  as  a  petitioner  for  money,  and  it  seems  probable 
that  prompt  and  liberal  generosity  would  have  kept  her  quiet. 
But  it  is  also  likely  that  she  was  but  ill-pleased  by  Maitre 
Achille  Pigoult's  reception  of  her  demands;  for  on  leaving 
his  office  she  went  to  the  market-square,  and  seconded  by  a 
neighbor,  a  lawyer  from  the  village,  who  had  come  with  her, 
she  disburdened  herself  of  various  statements  relating  to  my 
highly  esteemed  fellow-member  which  were  not  very  flattering 
to  his  character ;  declaring  that  the  Marquis  de  Sallenauve 
was  not  his  father;  and  again,  that  there  was  no  Marquis  de 
Sallenauve  in  existence.  And  at  any  rate,  she  concluded, 
this  newly  made  Sallenauve  was  a  heartless  wretch  who  would 
have  nothing  to  say  to  his  relations.  But,  she  added,  she 
could  make  him  disgorge,  and,  with  the  help  of  the  clever 
man  who  had  come  with  her  to  support  her  by  his  advice, 


356  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

Monsieur  le  Depute  might  be  sure  that  they  '  would  make  him 
dance  to  another  tune.'  " 

"I  have  not  the  slightest  objection,"  said  Rastignac. 
"  But  the  woman  has,  I  suppose,  some  proof  in  support  of  her 
statements?" 

"That  is  the  weak  point  of  the  matter,"  replied  Vinet. 
"  But  let  me  go  on.  At  Arcis,  my  dear  sir,  the  Government 
has  a  remarkably  devoted  and  intelligent  servant  in  the  head 
of  the  police.  Moving  about  among  the  people,  which  is  his 
practice  on  market-days,  he  picked  up  some  of  the  woman's 
vicious  remarks,  and  going  off  at  once  to  the  mayor's  house, 
he  asked  to  see,  not  the  mayor  himself,  but  Madame  Beau- 
visage,  to  whom  he  told  what  was  going  on." 

"Then  is  the  candidate  whom  you  had  choosen  for  a 
crowning  treat  a  perfect  idiot?"  Rastignac  asked  Maxime. 

**  The  very  man  you  wanted,"  replied  Monsieur  de  Trailles, 
**  imbecile  to  a  degree  !  There  is  nothing  I  would  not  do  to 
reverse  this  vexatious  defeat." 

"Madame  Beauvisage,"  Vinet  went  on,  "at  once  thought 
she  would  like  to  talk  to  this  woman  of  the  ready  tongue ;  and 
to  get  hold  of  her,  it  was  not  a  bad  idea  to  desire  Groslier, 
the  police  sergeant,  to  go  and  fetch  her  with  a  sternly  threat- 
ening air,  as  if  the  authorities  disapproved  of  her  levity  in 
using  such  language  with  regard  to  a  member  of  the  National 
Chamber,  and  to  bring  her  forthwith  to  the  mayor's  house." 

"  And  it  was  Madame  Beauvisage,  you  say,  who  suggested 
this  method  of  procedure  ?  "  said  Rastignac. 

"  Oh,  yes,  she  is  a  very  capable  woman,"  said  Maxime. 

"Driven  hard,"  continued  the  speaker,  "by  Madame  the 
Mayoress,  who  took  care  to  secure  her  husband's  presence  at 
the  cross-examination,  the  woman  proved  to  be  anything 
rather  than  coherent.  How  she  had  ascertained  that  the 
deputy  could  not  be  the  marquis*  son,  and  her  confident 
assertion,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  marquis  did  not  even 
exist,  were  not  by  any  means  conclusively  proved.     Hearsay, 


ThW  ffEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  357 

vague  reports,  inferences  drawn  by  her  village  attorney  were 
the  best  of  the  evidence  she  could  bring." 

"Well,  then,"  said  Rastignac,  "what  is  the  upshot  of  it 
all?" 

"iV//from  the  legal  point  of  view,"  replied  Vinet.  "For 
even  if  the  woman  could  prove  that  it  is  a  mere  whim  on  the 
part  of  the  Marquis  de  Sallenauve  to  recognize  the  man  Dor- 
lange  as  his  son,  she  would  have  no  ground  for  an  action  in 
disproof.  According  to  Section  339  of  the  Civil  Code,  a 
positive  and  congenital  right  alone  can  give  grounds  for  dis- 
puting the  recognition  of  a  natural  child ;  in  other  words, 
there  must  be  a  direct  claim  on  the  property  in  which  the 
child  whose  birth  is  disputed  is  enabled  to  claim  a  share." 

"Your  balloon  collapsed!  "  observed  the  minister. 

"Whereas,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  good  woman  chooses 
to  dispute  the  existence  of  the  Marquis  de  Sallenauve,  she 
would  disinherit  herself,  since  she  certainly  has  no  claim  on 
the  estate  of  a  man  who  would  then  be  no  relation  of  hers; 
beside,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  crown,  and  not  her  part  at  all,  to 
prosecute  for  the  assumption  of  a  false  identity  ;  the  utmost 
she  could  do  would  be  to  bring  the  charge." 

"Whence  you  conclude?"  said  Rastignac,  with  the  sharp 
brevity  which  warns  a  too  diffuse  talker  to  abridge  his  story. 

"  Whence  I  conclude,  legally  speaking,  that  this  Romilly 
peasant,  by  taking  up  either  charge  as  the  basis  for  an  action, 
would  find  it  a  bad  speculation,  since  in  one  case  she  must 
obviously  lose,  and  in  the  other — which,  in  fact,  she  cannot 
even  bring — she  would  get  nothing  out  of  it.  But,  politically 
speaking,  it  is  quite  another  story," 

"Let  us  see  the  political  side  then,"  said  Rastignac;  "for, 
so  far,  I  can  make  nothing  of  it." 

"In  the  first  place,"  replied  the  lawyer,  "you  will  agree 
with  me  that  it  is  always  possible  to  fight  a  bad  case?" 

"Certainly." 

**  And  then,  I  do  not  suppose  that  you  would  care  whether 


368  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

this  woman  fights  an  action  which  would  only  end  in  her  hav- 
ing to  pay  a  lawyer's  bill." 

"  No ;  I  confess  it  is  a  matter  to  me  of  perfect  indifference." 

*'  And  if  you  had  cared,  I  should,  all  the  same,  have  advised 
you  to  let  matters  take  their  course ;  for  the  Beauvisages  have 
undertaken  all  the  costs,  including  a  visit  to  Paris  for  this 
woman  and  her  legal  adviser." 

"Well,  well — the  action  brought,  what  comes  of  it?"  said 
Rastignac,  anxious  to  end. 

"What  comes  of  it?"  cried  the  lawyer,  warming  to  the 
subject.  "  Why,  everything  you  can  manage  to  make  of  it ; 
if,  before  it  is  argued,  you  can  work  up  comments  in  the 
papers  and  insinuations  from  your  friends.  What  comes  of 
it?  Why,  the  utmost  discredit  for  our  antagonist,  if  he  is 
suspected  of  having  assumed  a  name  to  which  he  has  no  right. 
What  comes  of  it?  Why,  an  opportunity  for  a  fulminating 
speech  in  the  Chamber " 

"  Which  you,  no  doubt,  will  undertake?  "  asked  Rastignac. 

"  Oh,  I  do  not  know.  The  case  must  be  thoroughly  stud- 
ied ;  I  must  see  what  turn  it  is  likely  to  take." 

"  Then  for  the  moment,"  the  minister  observed,  "it  is  all 
reduced  to  an  application,  hit  or  miss,  of  Basile's  famous 
theory  of  calumny — that  it  is  always  well  to  keep  it  stirred, 
and  that  something  will  stick." 

"  Calumny?  Calumny  ?  "  replied  Vinet.  "  That  we  shall 
see  ;  it  may  be  no  more  than  honest  evil-speaking.  Monsieur 
de  Trailles,  here,  knows  what  went  on  much  better  than  we 
do.  He  will  tell  you  that  all  through  the  district  the  father's 
disappearance  as  soon  as  he  had  legally  acknowledged  his  son 
had  the  very  worst  effect ;  that  everybody  retained  a  vague 
impression  of  mysterious  complications  to  favor  the  election 
of  this  man  about  whom  we  are  talking. 

"You  have  no  idea,  my  dear  fellow,  what  can  be  got  out 
of  a  lawsuit  cleverly  kept  simmering,  and  in  my  long  and 
busy  career  as  a  pleader  I  have  seen  miracles  worked  by  such 


TH^^PUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  359 

means.  A  parliamentary  struggle  is  quite  another  matter. 
There  proof  is  not  needed  ;  you  may  kill  your  man  with  noth- 
ing but  hypotheses  and  asseverations  if  you  stick  to  them  de- 
fiantly enough." 

"  Well,  to  sura  up,"  said  Rastignac,  speaking  as  a  man  of 
method,  "  how  do  you  recommend  that  the  affair  should  be 
managed  ?" 

"  In  the  first  place,"  replied  the  lawyer,  *'  I  should  allow 
the  Beauvisages — since  they  have  a  fancy  for  it — to  pay  all 
the  expenses  of  moving  the  peasant-woman  and  her  friend, 
and  subsequently  the  costs  of  the  action." 

**  Do  I  make  any  objection  ?"  said  the  minister.  "  Have 
I  either  the  right  or  the  means  ?  " 

"The  case,"  Vinet  went  on,  *•'  must  be  put  into  the  hands 
of  a  wily  and  clever  lawyer.  Desroches,  for  instance.  Mon- 
sieur de  Trailles'  lawyer.  He  will  know  how  to  fill  out  the 
body  of  a  case  which,  as  you  justly  observe,  is  very  thin." 

"  I  certainly  should  not  say  to  Monsieur  de  Trailles,  *  I 
forbid  you  to  allow  anybody  you  please  to  secure  the  services 
of  your  solicitor,'  "  said  Rastignac. 

"Then  we  want  an  advocate  who  can  talk  with  an  air  of 
*  The  Family '  as  a  sacred  and  precious  thing ;  who  will  wax 
indignant  at  the  surreptitious  intrigues  by  which  a  man  may 
scheme  to  insinuate  himself  within  its  holy  pale." 

"  Desroches  can  find  your  man  ;  and  again,  the  Govern- 
ment is  not  likely  to  hinder  a  pleader  from  talking  or  from 
being  transported  with  indignation  !  " 

"But,  Monsieur  le  Ministre,"  Maxime  put  in,  startled  out 
of  his  attitude  of  passive  attention  by  Rastignac's  indifference, 
"  is  non-interference  all  the  support  to  be  hoped  for  from  the 
Government  in  this  struggle?" 

"  I  hope  you  did  not  think  that  we  should  take  up  the  action 
on  our  own  account  ?  " 

"  No,  of  course  not ;  but  we  had  a  right  to  imagine  that 
you  would  take  some  interest  in  it." 


860  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"  How — in  what  way?" 

**  How  can  I  tell  ?  As  Monsieur  Vinet  was  saying  just 
now,  by  tuck  of  drum  in  the  subsidized  newspapers — by  get- 
ting your  supporters  to  spread  the  gossip — by  using  the  influ- 
ence which  men  in  power  always  have  over  the  bench." 

*'  Thank  you  for  nothing,"  said  the  minister.  "  When  you 
want  to  secure  the  Government  as  an  accomplice,  my  dear 
Maxime,  you  must  have  a  rather  more  solidly  constructed 
scheme  to  show.  Your  air  of  business  this  morning  made  me 
think  you  really  had  a  strong  hand,  and  I  have  troubled  our 
excellent  friend  the  public  prosecutor,  who  knows  how  high 
a  value  I  set  on  his  learning  and  advice  ;  but  really  your  plot 
strikes  me  as  too  transparent,  and  the  meshes  so  thin  that  I 
can  see  through  them  an  inevitable  defeat.  If  I  were  a  bache- 
lor and  wanted  to  marry  Mademoiselle  Beauvisage,  I  daresay 
I  might  be  bolder,  so  I  leave  it  to  you  to  carry  on  the  action 
in  any  way  you  please.  I  will  not  say  that  Government  will 
not  watch  your  progress  with  its  best  wishes ;  but  it  certainly 
will  not  tread  the  path  with  you," 

"  Well,  well,"  said  Vinet,  hindering  Maxime's  reply,  which 
would,  no  doubt,  have  been  a  bitter  one,  "but  supposing  we 
take  the  matter  into  court ;  suppose  that  the  peasant-woman, 
prompted  by  the  Beauvisages,  should  denounce  the  man  who 
was  identified  before  the  notary  as  being  a  spurious  Sallenauve; 
then  the  deputy  is  guilty  of  conspiracy,  and  for  that  we  have 
him  before  the  superior  court." 

"But,  again,  where  are  your  proofs?"  asked  Rastignac. 
*'  Have  you  a  shadow  of  evidence?  " 

"  You  admitted  just  now,"  observed  Maxime,  "  that  a  bad 
case  may  be  fought  out." 

"A  civil  action,  yes ;  a  criminal  charge  is  quite  another 
matter.  And  this  would  break  down,  for  it  means  disputing 
the  validity  of  an  act  drawn  up  by  a  public  official,  and  with- 
out a  particle  of  proof.  A  pretty  piece  of  work  !  The  case 
would  be  simply  dismissed  before  it  came   to  be  argued  in 


^41^  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  3I1 

court.     If  we  wanted  to  perch  our  enemy  on  a  pedestal  as 
high  as  the  column  of  July,  we  could  not  go  about  it  more 

effectually." 

"So  that  in  your  opinion  there  is  nothing  to  be  done?" 
asked  Maxime. 

"By  us— nothing.  But  you,  my  dear  Maxime,  who  have 
no  official  position,  and  can  at  a  pinch  use  your  pistol  in  sup- 
port of  the  attack  on  Monsieur  de  Sallenauve's  character — 
there  is  nothing  to  hinder  you  from  trying  your  luck  in  the 
contest." 

"Yes,"  said  Maxime  petulantly,  "I  am  a  sort  of  '  condot- 
Here  r'' 

"  Not  at  all ;  you  are  a  man  with  an  instinctive  conviction 
of  certain  facts  that  cannot  be  legally  proven,  and  you  would 
not  be  afraid  to  stand  at  the  judgment  seat  of  God." 

Monsieur  de  Trailles  rose,  considerably  annoyed.  Vinet 
also  rose,  and  giving  Rastignac  his  hand  as  he  took  leave — 

"  I  cannot  deny,"  said  he,  "that  your  conduct  is  dictated 
by  great  prudence ;  and  I  will  not  say  but  that  in  your  place  I 
should  do  the  same." 

"  No  ill-feeling,  at  any  rate,  Maxime,"  said  the  minister, 
and  Maxime  bowed  with  icy  dignity. 

When  the  two  conspirators  were  in  the  outer  room  alone — 

"Do  you  understand  what  this  prudery  means?"  asked 
Maxime. 

"  Perfectly,"  said  Vinet,  "and  for  a  clever  man  you  seem 
to  me  easily  taken  in." 

"  No  doubt — making  you  lose  your  time,  beside  losing  my 
own  to  have  the  pleasure  of  hearing  a  man  lay  himself  out  for 
the  reward  of  virtue " 

"It  is  not  that.  I  think  you  very  guileless  to  believe  in 
the  refusal  of  support  that  has  vexed  you  so  much." 

"What?     You  think " 

"  I  think  that  the  business  is  a  toss-up.  If  the  plan  suc- 
ceeds, the  Government,  sitting  with  its  arms  folded,  will  get 


362  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

all  the  benefit ;  if,  on  the  contrary,  success  is  not  for  us,  it 
would,  as  soon  as  not,  keep  out  of  the  risk  of  defeat.  But, 
take  my  word  for  it,  I  know  Rastignac ;  looking  quite  impas- 
sive, and  without  compromising  himself  at  all,  he  will  perhaps 
serve  us  better  than  by  outspoken  connivance.  Just  reflect : 
Did  he  say  a  single  word  against  the  moral  side  of  the  attack? 
Did  he  not  repeat  again  and  again — '  I  make  no  objection  ?  I 
have  no  right  to  hinder  you.'  And  what  fault  had  he  to  find 
with  the  snake's  venom?  That  its  action  was  not  deadly 
enough  !  The  fact  is,  my  dear  sir,  that  there  will  be  a  sharp 
tug  of  war,  and  it  will  take  all  Desroches'  skill  to  put  a  good 
face  on  the  business." 

"  Then  you  think  I  had  better  see  him  ?  " 

"  Do  I  think  so?     Why,  this  moment,  when  we  part." 

"  Do  not  you  think  it  would  be  well  that  he  should  go  and 
talk  matters  over  with  you?" 

"No,  no,  no!  "  said  Vinet.  "I  may  be  the  man  to  do 
the  talking  in  the  Chamber.  Desroches  might  be  seen  at  my 
house,  and  I  must  seem  immaculate." 

Thereupon  he  bowed  to  Maxime,  and  left  him  in  some 
haste,  excusing  himself  by  having  to  go  to  the  Chamber  and 
hear  what  was  going  on. 

"And  if  I,"  said  Maxime,  running  after  him  as  he  left,  "if 
I  should  need  your  advice  ?  " 

"  I  am  leaving  Paris  this  evening  to  look  after  my  court  in 
the  country  before  the  session  opens." 

"And  the  question  in  the  Chamber  that  you  may  be  called 
upon  to  ask?" 

"  Oh,  if  it  is  not  I,  it  will  be  some  one  else.  I  shall  return 
as  soon  as  possible ;  but  you  will  understand  that  I  must  set 
my  shop  in  order  before  I  come  away  for  at  least  five  or  six 
months." 

"Then  bon  voyage,  monsieur,"  said  Maxime  sarcastically, 
and  parting  from  him  at  last. 

Rastignac's  behavior  especially  nettled  him  when  he  looked 


THS  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  363 

back  on  their  first  meeting,  just  twenty  years  ago,  at  Madame 
de  Restaud's.  He,  then  already  a  formed  man  holding  the 
sceptre  of  fashion,  and  Rastignac  a  poor  student,  not  know- 
ing how  to  enter  or  leave  a  room,  and  dismissed  from  the 
door  of  that  handsome  house  when  he  called  after  his  first 
visit,  in  the  course  of  which  he  had  contrived  to  commit  two 
or  three  incongruous  blunders  !  And  now  Rastignac  was  a 
peer  of  France  and  in  office  ;  while  he,  Maxime,  no  more 
than  his  tool,  was  obliged  to  listen  with  grounded  arms  when 
he  was  told  that  his  man-traps  were  too  artless,  and  that  if  he 
fancied  them,  he  must  work  them  alone. 

But  this  prostration  was  but  a  lightning  flash. 

"Well,  then  !  "  he  said  to  himself.  "Yes,  I  will  try  the 
game  single-handed.  My  instinct  assures  me  that  there  is 
something  in  it. 

"What  next !  A  Dorlange,  a  nobody,  is  to  keep  me  in 
check,  me,  Comte  Maxime  de  Trailles,  and  make  my  defeat  a 
stepping-stone?  There  are  too  many  dark  places  in  that 
rogue's  past  life  for  it  not  to  be  possible  sooner  or  later  to 
open  one  to  the  light  of  day " 

"To  the  lawyer's,"  said  he  to  the  coachman  as  he  opened 
his  carriage-door,  ^ 

And  when  he  was  comfortably  seated  on  the  cushions — 

"After  all,  if  I  cannot  succeed  in  overthrowing  this  upstart, 
I  will  put  myself  in  the  way  of  his  insulting  me ;  I  shall  have 
the  choice  of  weapons,  and  will  fire  first.  I  will  do  better 
than  the  Due  de  Rhetore,  my  insolent  friend  !  I  will  kill 
you,  never  fear  !  " 

Desroches  was  at  home,  and  Monsieur  de  Trailles  was  at 
once  shown  in  to  his  private  room. 

In  1S39  Desroches  was  an  honest  attorney  in  good  prac- 
tice; that  is  to  say,  he  conducted  his  clients'  business  with 
zeal  and  skill  ;  he  never  would  countenance  any  underhand 
proceedings,  much  less  would  he  have  lent  them  a  hand.     As 


364  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

to  the  fine  bloom  of  delicate  honesty  which  existed  in  Der- 
ville  and  some  other  men  of  that  stamp,  beside  the  impossi- 
bility of  preserving  it  from  rubbing  off  in  the  world  of  busi- 
ness— in  which,  as  Monsieur  de  Talleyrand  said:  "Business 
means  other  people's  money" — it  can  never  be  the  second 
development  of  any  life.  The  loss  of  that  down  of  the  soul, 
like  that  of  anything  virginal,  is  irreparable ;  so  Desroches 
had  made  no  attempt  to  restore  it.  He  would  have  nothing 
to  say  to  what  was  ignoble  or  dishonest  \  but  the  above-board 
tricks  allowed  by  the  Code  of  Procedure,  the  recognized  sur- 
prises and  villainies  to  steal  a  march  on  an  adversary,  he  was 
ready  to  allow. 

Then,  Desroches  was  an  amusing  fellow ;  he  liked  good 
living  ;  and,  like  all  men  who  are  incessantly  absorbed  by  the 
imperious  demands  of  hard  thinking,  he  felt  a  craving  for 
highly  spiced  enjoyments  snatched  in  haste,  and  strong  to  the 
palate.  So,  while  he  had  by  degrees  cleansed  his  ways  as  a 
lawyer,  he  was  still  the  favorite  attorney  of  men  of  letters, 
artists,  and  actresses,  of  popular  courtesans  and  dandy  bohe- 
mians  such  as  Maxime  ;  because  he  was  content  to  live  their 
life,  all  these  people  attracted  him,  and  all  relished  his  society. 
Their  slang  and  wit,  their  rather  lax  moral  views,  their  some- 
what picaresque  adventures,  their  expedients,  their  brave  and 
honorable  toil — in  short,  all  their  greatness  and  all  their 
misery  were  perfectly  understood  by  him,  and  like  an  ever- 
indulgent  providence,  he  gave  them  advice  and  help  when- 
ever they  asked  for  them. 

But  to  the  end  that  his  serious  and  paying  clients  should 
not  discover  what  might  be  somewhat  compromising  in  his 
intimacy  with  these  clients  of  his  heart,  he  had  days  when  he 
was  the  husband  and  father — more  especially  Sundays.  Rarely 
did  he  fail  to  be  seen  in  his  quiet  little  carriage,  in  the  Bois 
de  Boulogne,  his  wife  by  his  side — the  largeness  of  her  fortune 
stamped  in  her  ugliness.  On  the  opposite  seat  were  the  three 
children  in  a  group,  all  unfortunately  like  their  mother. 


fk§  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 


2ISS 


So  it  was  to  this  relatively  honest  lawyer  that  Monsieur  de 
Trailles  had  come  for  advice,  as  he  never  failed  to  do  in 
every  more  or  less  tight  place  in  his  career.  Desroches,  as 
had  long  been  his  habit,  listened  without  interrupting  him  to 
the  long  statement  of  the  case  as  it  was  unfolded  to  him,  in- 
cluding the  scene  that  had  just  taken  place  at  Rastignac's. 
As  Maxime  had  no  secrets  from  this  confessor,  he  gave  all  his 
reasons  for  owing  Sallenauve  an  ill-turn,  and  represented  him, 
with  perfect  conviction,  as  having  stolen  the  name  under 
which  he  would  sit  in  the  Chamber.  His  hatred  appeared  to 
him  in  the  light  of  positive  evidence  of  a  felony  that  was 
hardly  probable  or  possible.  In  the  bottom  of  his  heart 
Desroches  had  no  wish  to  undertake  a  case  in  which  he  at 
once  foresaw  not  the  smallest  chance  of  success ;  and  his  lax 
honesty  was  shown  in  his  talking  to  his  client  as  if  it  were  a 
quite  ordinary  legal  matter,  and  in  not  telling  him  point-blank 
his  opinion  of  an  action  which  was  simply  an  intrigue. 

"To  begin  with,  my  dear  sir,"  said  the  attorney,  "a  civil 
action  is  not  to  be  thought  of:  if  your  Romilly  peasant  had 
her  pockets  full  of  proofs,  her  application  would  be  refused 
because,  so  far,  she  can  have  no  direct  interest  in  disputing 
the  affiliation  of  the  opposing  party." 

"  Yes,  that  is  what  Vinet  said  just  now." 

"As  to  a  criminal  prosecution,  that,  of  course,  you  might 
bring  about  by  lodging  an  information  of  false  personation." 

"Vinet  seemed  in  favor  of  that  course,"  said  Maxime. 

"Well,  but  there  are  many  objections  to  this  method  of 
procedure.  In  the  first  place,  merely  to  get  the  information 
heard,  you  must  have  something  resembling  proof;  next,  if 
the  information  is  lodged  and  the  Crown  decides  to  prosecute, 
to  get  a  verdict  there  must  be  far  stronger  evidence  of  the 
felony ;  and  if,  after  all,  the  crime  were  proved  against  the 
self-styled  Marquis  de  Sallenauve,  how  are  you  to  show  that 
his  self-styled  son  is  in  the  conspiracy,  since  he  may  have  been 
deceived  by  an  impostor." 


366  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"  But  what  motive  could  that  impostor  have,"  said  Maxime, 
*'  for  giving  this  Dorlange  all  the  advantages  that  accrue  to 
him  from  being  recognized  as  the  Marquis  de  Sallenauve's 
son?" 

"Oh,  my  dear  fellow,"  replied  Desroches,  "when  you 
come  to  State  questions,  any  eccentricity  is  possible.  No  sort 
of  trials  or  actions  has  furnished  so  many  romances  to  the 
compilers  of  causes  Celebris  or  to  novelists.  But  there  is 
another  point :  the  assumption  of  a  false  identity  is  not  in 
itself  a  crime  in  the  eye  of  the  law." 

"  How  is  that  ?  "  cried  Maxime.     "  Impossible  !  " 

"Look  here,  my  lord,"  said  Desroches,  taking  down  the 
Five  Codes,  "have  the  kindness  to  read  Section  145  of  the 
Penal  Code — the  only  one  which  seems  to  lend  an  opening  to 
the  action  you  propose  to  bring,  and  see  whether  the  mis- 
demeanor we  are  discussing  is  contemplated." 

Maxime  read  aloud  Section  145,  as  follows: 

"  Any  functionary  or  public  officer  who  shall  have  com- 
mitted forgery  in  the  exercise  of  his  functions — either  by 
forged  signatures,  or  by  defacing  and  altering  deeds,  docu- 
ments, or  signatures — or  by  assuming  a  false  identity " 

"Then,  you  see,"  said  Maxime,  "false  identity " 

"Read  to  the  end,"  said  Desroches. 

"  Or  by  altering  or  adding  to  a  register  or  any  other  public 
document,  after  it  has  been  legally  attested  and  sealed,  is 
liable  to  penal  servitude  for  life." 

Monsieur  de  Trailles  rolled  the  words  unctuously  on  his 
tongue  as  a  foretaste  of  the  fate  in  store  for  Monsieur  de  Salle- 
nauve. 

"  My  dear  count,"  said  Desroches,  "  you  read  as  the  parties 
to  a  suit  always  do ;  they  never  study  a  point  of  law  but  from 
their  own  side  of  the  case.  You  fail  to  observe  that,  in  this 
section,  mention  is  made  only  of  '  functionaries  and  public 
officers ; '  it  has  no  bearing  on  the  false  identity  of  any  other 
class  of  persons." 


TH^  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  ZSl 

Maxime  re-read  the  paragraph,  and  saw  that  Desroches  was 
right. 

"Still,"  he  remarked,  "there  must  be  something  elsewhere 
to  that  effect?" 

"Nothing  of  the  kind;  take  my  word  for  it  as  a  lawyer; 
the  Code  is  absolutely  silent  on  that  point." 

"  Then  the  crime  we  should  inform  against  has  the  privilege 
of  impunity?  " 

"  That  is  to  say,"  replied  Desroches,  "  that  its  punishment 
is  doubtful  at  best.     A  judge  sometimes  by  induction  extends 

the  letter  of  the  law "     He  paused  to  turn  over  a  volume 

of  leading  cases. 

"  Here,  you  see,  reported  in  Carnot's  *  Commentaries  on 
the  Penal  Code,'  two  judgments  delivered  at  Assizes — one  of 
July  7,  1814,  and  the  other  of  ^/r/7  24,  i8i8,  both  confirmed 
in  the  Court  of  Appeal,  which  condemned  certain  individuals 
who  were  neither  functionaries  nor  public  officers  for  assuming 
false  names  and  identity;  but  these  two  verdicts,  exceptional 
in  every  way,  are  based  on  a  section  in  which  this  particular 
misdemeanor  is  not  even  mentioned,  and  it  was  only  by  very 
recondite  argument  that  it  was  brought  to  bear  on  the  cases. 
So  you  will  understand  that  the  outcome  of  such  an  action 
must  always  be  doubtful,  since,  in  the  absence  of  any  pos- 
itive rule,  it  is  impossible  to  say  what  the  judges'  decision 
may  be." 

"  Consequently,  it  is  your  opinion,  as  it  is  Rastignac's,  that 
we  may  send  our  countrywoman  back  to  Romilly,  and  that 
there  is  nothing  to  be  done." 

"There  is  always  something  to  be  done,"  replied  Des- 
roches, "  when  you  know  how  to  set  about  it.  There  is  a 
further  complication  which  does  not  seem  to  have  occurred  to 
you  or  Monsieur  de  Rastignac,  or  even  to  Monsieur  Vinet ; 
and  that  is  that,  apart  from  the  legal  point,  you  need  authority 
from  the  Chamber  before  you  can  prosecute  a  menibcr  of  the 
representative  body  in  a  criminal  court." 


368  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"That  is  true,"  said  Maxime ;  "but  how  does  a  further 
complication  help  us  out  of  our  difficulty?  " 

"  You  would  not  be  sorry,  I  fancy,"  said  the  lawyer,  laugh- 
ing, "  to  send  your  enemy  to  the  hulks  ?  " 

"A  scoundrel,"  said  Maxime,  with  a  droll  twinkle,  "who 
has  perhaps  caused  me  to  miss  a  good  marriage,  who  sets 
up  for  austere  virtue,  and  allows  himself  such  audacious 
tricks  !  " 

"  Well ;  you  must,  nevertheless,  put  up  with  some  less 
showy  revenge.  If  you  create  a  scandal,  throw  utter  dis- 
credit on  your  man — that,  I  suppose,  would,  to  some  extent, 
achieve  your  end  ?  " 

"  No  doubt ;  half  a  loaf  is  better  than  no  bread." 

"  Your  ideas  thus  reduced,  this  is  what  I  should  advise : 
Do  not  urge  your  woman  to  bring  an  action  against  this  gen- 
tleman who  annoys  you  so  much,  but  get  her  to  place  a  peti- 
tion for  authority  to  prosecute  in  the  hands  of  the  president 
of  the  Chamber.  She  will  most  probably  not  obtain  it,  and 
the  affair  will  collapse  at  that  stage  ;  but  the  fact  of  the  appli- 
cation will  be  rumored  in  the  Chamber,  the  papers  will  have 
every  right  to  mention  it,  and  the  Government  will  be  free, 
behind  the  scenes,  to  add  venom  to  the  imputation  by  the 
comments  of  its  supporters." 

'^Feste  !  "  exclaimed  Maxime,  enchanted  at  seeing  an  out- 
let for  his  instincts  of  aversion,  "  you  are  a  clever  fellow — 
far  cleverer  than  all  your  self-styled  statesmen.  But  as  to  this 
petition  to  the  Chamber  for  leave  to  prosecute,  who  can  draw 
that  up?" 

"Not  I,"  replied  Desroches,  who  did  not  care  to  go  any 
further  in  such  dirty  work.  "  What  you  want  is  not  a  judicial 
document,  but  a  weapon,  and  that  is  no  part  of  my  business. 
But  there,  are  dozens  of  attorneys  without  clients  who  are 
always  ready  to  put  a  finger  into  a  political  pie — Massol,  for 
instance,  will  do  your  job  as  well  as  any  man." 

**  Good  !  "  said  Maxime,  "  I  will  take  the  responsibility, 


THE  BEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  369 

and  in  that  shape,  perhaps,  Rastignac  may  at  last  swallow  the 
scheme." 

*'Mind  you  do  not  make  an  enemy  of  Vinet,  for  he  will 
think  you  have  taken  a  great  liberty  in  having  thought  of  a 
thing  that  ought  at  once  to  have  occurred  to  such  a  practiced 
parliamentary  tactician  as  he  is." 

"  Oh,  before  very  long,"  said  Maxime,  rising,  *'  I  hope  that 
Vinet,  Rastignac,  and  the  rest  will  have  to  reckon  with  me. 
Where  are  you  dining  to-night  ?"  he  added. 

It  is  a  question  which  one  "man  about  town"  often  asks 
another. 

''  In  a  cave,"  said  Desroches,  "  with  the  banditti." 
*' Where  is  it  ?  " 

**  Why,  in  the  course  of  your  erotic  experiences  you  have, 
no  doubt,  had  recourse  to  the  good  offices  of  an  old  ward- 
robe-buyer named  Madame  de  Saint-Esteve  ?  " 

"No,"  said  Maxime;  "I  always  manage  my  own  busi- 
ness." 

"Ah,  I  was  not  thinking,"  said  the  lawyer.  "You  have 
always  been  a  conqueror  in  high  life,  where  such  go-betweens 
are  not  employed.  However,  the  woman's  name  is  not  un- 
known to  you  ?  " 

"Quite  true.  Her  store  is  in  the  Rue  Saint-Marc.  It  was 
she  who  brought  about  the  meeting  between  Nucingen  and 
that  little  slut  Esther,  who  cost  him  something  like  five  hun- 
dred thousand  francs.  She  must  be  related  to  a  villain  of  the 
same  kidney  who  is  now  at  the  head  of  the  detective  force, 
and  goes  by  the  same  name." 

"That  I  do  not  know,"  replied  Desroches.  "But  lean 
tell  you  this  much  :  she  made  a  fortune  by  her  trade  as  dresser 
{appareilleuse,  as  it  was  called  at  a  time  when  the  world  was 
less  prudish  than  it  is  now),  and  to-day  the  worthy  lady  is 
magnificently  housed  in  the  Rue  de  Provence,  where  she  is  at 
the  head  of  a  matrimonial  agency." 
"  And  you  are  dining  there  ?" 
24 


370  ^THE  DEPUTY  FOR   ARCIS. 

"Yes,  my  dear  sir,  with  the  manager  of  an  opera  house  in 
London,  with  Emile  Blondet,  Andoche  Finot,  Lousteau,  Feli- 
cien  Vernou,  Theodore  Gaillard,  Hector  Merlin,  and  Bixiou, 
who  was  instructed  to  invite  me,  because  my  experience  and 
great  knowledge  of  business  are  to  be  called  into  play." 

"  Bless  me  !  is  there  some  great  financial  enterprise  at  the 
back  of  that  dinner?" 

"  A  joint-stock  undertaking,  my  dear  friend,  and  a  theatrical 
engagement,  and  I  am  to  read  through  the  two  agreements. 
As  regards  the  last,  you  understand  that  the  distinguished 
guests  invited  to  meet  me  will  proceed  to  blow  the  trumpet  as 
soon  as  the  deed  is  signed." 

"And  who  is  the  star  whose  engagement  needs  so  much 
ceremony?" 

"  Oh,  a  star  who  may  look  forward,  it  would  seem,  to 
European  glory !  An  Italian  woman  discovered  by  a  great 
Swedish  nobleman,  Count  Halphertius,  through  the  ministra- 
tions of  Madame  de  Saint-Est^ve.  To  have  her  brought  out 
on  the  opera  stage  in  London,  the  illustrious  stranger  becomes 
a  sleeping  partner  with  the  impresario  to  the  tune  of  a  hun- 
dred thousand  crowns." 

"  So  the  Swedish  count  is  marrying  her  ?  " 

"H'm,"  said  Desroches,  "I  have  not  as, yet  been  asked  to 
draw  up  the  settlements.  Madame  de  Saint-Esteve,  as  you 
may  suppose,  still  has  some  connection  with  the  '  thirteenth 
arrondissement '  in  her  agency  business." 

"Well,  my  good  fellow,  I  hope  you  will  enjoy  the  party," 
said  Maxime,  leaving.  "  If  your  star  is  a  success  in  London, 
we  shall  probably  see  her  in  Paris  this  winter.  I  will  be  off 
to  put  a  spoke,  if  I  can,  in  the  chariot  wheels  of  the  rising  sun 
of  Arcis.     By  the  way,  where  does  Massol  live  ?  " 

"On  my  word,  I  cannot  tell  you.  I  have  never  taken  him 
a  brief;  I  have  no  use  for  pleaders  who  meddle  in  politics; 
but  you  can  send  for  his  address  to  the  office  of  the  'Gazette 
des  Tribunaux; '  he  writes  for  it,  I  know," 


THB'*I^PUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  371 

Maxime  himself  went  to  the  office  to  ask  where  Massol 
lived ;  but  the  office-boy  had  strict  orders  not  to  give  his 
address  to  anybody,  probably  with  a  view  to  the  calls  of  duns. 
He  fortunately  remembered  that  Massol  rarely  missed  a  per- 
formance at  the  opera,  and  he  felt  tolerably  certain  of  finding 
him  in  the  lounging-room  after  dinner.  In  the  evening  he 
met  Massol,  as  he  expected,  at  the  opera.  Addressing  him 
with  his  usual  rather  haughty  politeness — 

"  I  should  like  to  talk  with  you,  monsieur,"  said  he,  "over 
a  partly  legal  and  partly  political  matter.  If  it  were  not  neces- 
sary to  observe  the  strictest  secrecy  in  every  way,  I  would  have 
had  the  honor  of  calling  at  your  office,  but  I  believe  we  shall 
discuss  it  in  greater  privacy  at  my  house,  where  I  can  put  you 
into  direct  communication  with  two  interested  persons.  May 
I  hope  that  you  will  give  me  the  pleasure  of  taking  a  cup  of 
tea  with  me  to-morrow  morning  soon  after  eleven?" 

**  I  shall  have  the  honor  of  waiting  on  you  to-morrow  at  the 
hour  you  name,"  he  eagerly  replied. 

"You  know,"  said  Maxime,  "  the  Rue  Pigalle?  " 

"Perfectly,"  replied  Massol,  "close  to  the  Rue  de  la 
Rochefoucauld." 

On  the  evening  when  Sallenauve,  Marie-Gaston,  and  Jacques 
Bricheteau  had  gone  together  to  Saint-Sulpice  to  hear  Signora 
Luigia  sing,  a  little  incident  had  occurred  in  the  church  which 
had  scarcely  been  noticed.  Through  the  little-used  door, 
opening  on  the  Rue  Palatine,  opposite  the  Rue  Servandoni,  a 
fair-haired  youth  hastily  came  in.  He  seemed  so  agitated  and 
hurried  that  he  even  forgot  to  take  off  a  cap  of  shiny  leather, 
shaped  like  those  worn  by  the  students  at  German  universities. 
As  he  pushed  forward  to  where  the  crowd  was  thickest,  he 
felt  himself  gripped  by  the  arm,  and  his  face,  which  was  florid 
and  rosy,  turned  lividly  pale  ;  but  on  turning  round  he  saw 
that  he  had  been  alarmed  without  cause.  It  was  only  the 
§.wiss,  or  beadle,  who  said  in  impressive  tones — 


372  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"Young  man,  is  your  cap  nailed  to  your  head?" 

**  I  beg  pardon,  monsieur,"  said  the  youth.  "It  was  an 
oversight." 

And  after  obeying  this  lesson  in  reverence,  human  and 
divine,  he  lost  himself  in  the  densest  part  of  the  crowd, 
through  which  he  roughly  made  his  way  with  his  elbows,  get- 
ting a  few  blows  in  return,  about  which  he  did  not  trouble 
himself.  Having  reached  an  open  space,  he  looked  round 
with  a  hasty,  anxious  eye ;  then  leaving  by  the  door  on  the 
side  to  the  Rue  Garanciere,  almost  opposite  to  that  he  had 
come  in  by,  he  flew  off  at  a  great  pace,  and  vanished  down 
one  of  the  deserted  streets  that  lie  about  the  Marche  Saint- 
Germain. 

A  few  seconds  after  the  irruption  of  this  strange  worshiper, 
in  at  the  same  door  came  a  man  with  a  deeply  seamed  face 
framed  in  white  whiskers ;  thick  hair,  also  white,  but  some- 
what rusty,  and  falling  to  his  shoulders,  gave  him  the  look  of 
some  old  member  of  the  Convention,  or  of  Bernardin  de 
Saint-Pierre*  after  having  had  the  smallpox. 

He  obviously  was  bent  on  following  the  light-haired  youth, 
but  he  was  not  so  clumsy  as  to  rush  after  him  through  the 
mass  of  people  in  front  of  the  high  altar,  in  which,  as  he 
understood,  the  fugitive  had  tried  to  be  lost.  So,  working 
round  the  building,  close  to  the  wall,  in  a  contrary  direction, 
he  had  every  chance  of  reaching  the  other  door  as  soon  as  his 
prey ;  but,  as  has  happened  to  many  another,  his  cleverness 
played  him  a  trick.  As  he  passed  a  confessional,  he  perceived 
a  kneeling  form  very  like  that  of  the  man  he  was  cliasing. 
Attributing  to  him  an  ingenuity  that  would,  no  doubt,  have 
been  his  in  similar  circumstances,  it  struck  him  that,  to  put 
him  off  the  scent,  his  escaped  victim  had  suddenly  thrown 
himself  on  the  penitential  tribunal.  In  the  time  it  took  him 
to  make  sure  of  the  man's  identity,  which  as  we  know  was  not 
confirmed,  he  was  outstripped.  So  practiced  a  hunter  at  once 
*  Author  of  "  Paul  and  Virginie." 


THE^l^FUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  373 

gave  up  the  useless  chase ;  he  understood  that  the  game  was  up 
for  to-day,  and  he  had  missed  his  chance. 

He  too  was  about  to  leave  the  church,  when,  after  a  brief 
prelude  on  the  organ,  Signora  Luigia's  contralto  voice  in  a 
few  deep  notes  began  the  glorious  melody  to  which  the  "Lit- 
anies to  the  Virgin  "  are  sung.  The  beauty  of  her  voice,  the 
beauty  of  the  strain,  the  beauty  of  the  words  of  that  sacred 
hymn,  which  her  admirable  style  gave  out  with  perfect  dis- 
tinctness, seemed  to  impress  this  strange  man  deeply.  Far 
from  leaving,  as  he  had  intended,  he  took  his  stand  in  the 
shadow  of  a  pillar,  not  looking  for  a  seat ;  but  at  the  moment 
when  the  last  notes  of  the  canticle  died  away,  he  had  fallen 
on  his  knees,  and  any  one  looking  at  his  face  would  have  seen 
that  two  large  tears  were  trickling  down  his  cheeks. 

The  benediction  having  been  pronounced,  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  crowd  having  left  the  church — 

"  What  a  fool  I  am  !  "  said  he,  as  he  rose  and  wiped  his 
eyes,  and  hailed  a  hack : 

"  Rue  de  Provence,  and  look  sharp,  my  good  fellow.  It 
will  be  worth  your  while,"  said  he. 

On  reaching  the  house  where  he  stopped  the  coach,  he  ran 
past  the  gatekeeper's  lodge  and  made  for  the  backstairs,  not 
wishing  to  be  seen ;  but  the  porter,  who  was  conscientious  in 
the  discharge  of  his  duty,  came  to  his  door  and  called  after 
him — 

" Pray,  where  are  you  going,  sir?" 

"To  Madame  de  Saint-Estdve,"  replied  the  visitor  in  a 
tone  of  annoyance. 

Immediately  after  he  rang  at  a  back  door,  which  was  opened 
by  a  negro. 

"  Is  my  aunt  in  ?  "  he  asked. 

"Oh  yes,  missy  at  home,"  replied  the  black  man,  putting 
on  the  most  gracious  smile  he  could  command,  which  made 
him  look  like  an  ape  cracking  nuts. 

Making  his  way  along  the  passages,  which  gave  an  idea  of 


374  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

the  extent  of  the  apartments,  the  new-comer  reached  the 
drawing-room  door;  the  negro  threw  it  open,  announcing 
"  Monsieur  Saint-Hesteve,"  with  a  violent  aspirate. 

The  head  of  the  detective  police  went  into  a  room  remark- 
able for  its  magnificence,  but  yet  more  so  for  the  extraordinary 
bad  taste  of  the  furniture.  Three  women  of  venerable  an- 
tiquity were  sitting  at  a  round  table,  solemnly  playing  domi- 
noes. Three  glasses,  a  silver  bowl  drained  empty,  and  a 
vinous  perfume  that  was  unpleasantly  conspicuous  on  coming 
into  the  room,  showed  that  the  worship  of  the  double-sixes 
was  not  the  only  cult  solemnized  there. 

"Good-evening,  ladies,"  said  the  great  man,  taking  a 
chair,  "  I  am  glad  to  find  you  all  together,  for  I  have  some- 
thing to  say  to  each  of  you." 

"We  will  listen  presently,"  said  his  aunt;  "let  us  finish 
the  game.     I  am  playing  for  fours." 

"  Double-blank,"  said  one  of  the  antiquities. 

"  Domino  !  "  cried  Madame  de  Saint-Esteve,  "  and  game. 
You  two  must  certainly  have  fouc.  points  between  you,  and  all 
the  blanks  are  out." 

So  speaking,  she  put  out  a  bony  hand  to  take  the  punch- 
ladle  and  fill  the  glasses ;  but  finding  the  bowl  empty,  instead 
of  rising  to  pull  the  bell,  she  rang  a  peal  with  the  spoon  in 
the  silver  basin. 

The  negro  came  in. 

"  Have  something  put  into  that,"  said  she,  handing  it  to 
him ;  "  and  bring  a  glass  for  monsieur." 

"  Thanks;  I  will  take  nothing,"  said  Saint-Estdve. 

"  I  have  had  a  sufficiency,"  said  one  of  the  old  ladies. 

"And  I  have  been  put  upon  milk,"  said  the  other,  "by 
the  doctor,  on  account  of  my  gastripes." 

"You  are  all  milksops  together,"  said  the  mistress  of  the 
house.  "  Here,  clear  all  this  away,"  said  she  to  the  negro; 
"  and,  above  all,  don't  let  me  catch  you  listening  at  the  door ! 
You  remember  the  clawing  you  got  ?  " 


Good-even  1  Nc,  ladies. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  375 

"Oh,  yes,  I  'member,"  said  the  man,  his  shoulders  shaking 
with  laughter,  "■  me  got  no  ears  now." 

And  he  went  away. 

"  Well,  Tommy,  it  is  your  turn  now,"  said  the  old  aunt  to 
Saint-Esteve,  after  a  stormy  settlement  of  accounts  between 
the  three  witches. 

"  You,  Madame  Fontaine,"  said  the  head  detective,  turning 
to  one  of  them,  who  by  her  fly-away  looks,  her  disorderly 
gray  hair,  and  her  frightfully  crooked  green  silk  bonnet, 
might  have  been  taken  for  a  blue-stocking  in  labor  with  an 
article  on  the  fashions,  "  you  forget  yourself  too  much  ;  you 
never  send  us  in  any  report,  while,  on  the  contrary,  we  hear 
too  many  reports  about  you.  Monsieur  le  Prefet  does  not  at 
all  care  for  establishments  of  your  class.  I  only  keep  you  go- 
ing for  the  sake  of  the  services  you  are  supposed  to  do  us ; 
but  without  pretending,  as  you  do,  to  look  into  the  future,  I 
can  positively  predict  that  if  you  continue  to  afford  us  so  little 
information,  your  fortune-telling  den  will  be  shut  before  long." 

"There  you  go!"  retorted  the  pythoness.  "You  pre- 
vented my  taking  the  rooms  Mademoiselle  Lenormand  had  in 
the  Rue  de  Tournon.  Who  do  you  suppose  will  come  to  me 
in  the  Rue  Vieille-du-Temple  ?  Poor  clerks,  cooks,  laborers, 
and  apprentice-girls  !  And  you  want  me  to  go  tattling  to 
you  of  what  I  pick  up  from  such  folk  ?  " 

"  Madame  Fontaine,  you  didn't  ought  to  say  that,"  said 
Madame  de  Saint-Estdve  ;  "  why,  I  send  some  of  my  customers 
to  you  most  days." 

"  Not  more  than  I  send  you  of  mine  !  " 

"And  not  above  four  days'  since,"  the  matrimonial  agent 
went  on,  "  that  Italian  woman  went  to  you  from  me.  She  is 
not  a  milliner's  apprentice,  she  is  not ;  and  she  lives  with  a 
deputy  who  is  against  the  Government !  You  might  have 
reported  that." 

"There  is  one  thing  in  particular,"  said  the  detective, 
"which  is  constantly  mentioned  in  the  reports  that  reach  me 


376  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

about  you — that  foul  creature  you  make  use  of  in  your  divina- 
tions  " 

"Who?     Astaroth?"  asked  Madame  Fontaine. 

"Yes;  that  batrachian,  that  toad,  to  speak  plainly,  whom 
you  pretend  to  consult.  A  little  while  since  it  would  seem  a 
woman  was  so  upset  by  its  horrible  appearance  that  she " 

"There,  there,"  the  fortune-teller  broke  in,  "if  I  am  to 
do  nothing  now  but  read  the  cards,  you  may  as  well  ruin  me 
at  once — cut  my  throat  and  have  done  with  it !  Because  a 
woman  has  a  still-born  child,  are  you  going  to  get  rid  of  toads 
altogether  in  this  world  ?  If  so,  what  did  God  create  them 
for?" 

"My  dear  madame,"  said  the  man,  "there  was  a  time 
when  you  would  have  been  less  partial  to  such  help.  In  1617 
a  philosopher  named  Vanini  was  burnt  at  Toulouse  solely  be- 
cause he  kept  a  toad  in  a  bottle." 

"Ay,  but  we  live  in  an  age  of  enlightenment,"  said  Mad- 
ame Fontaine  cheerfully,  "and  the  police  are  not  so  hard 
upon  us." 

"You,  Madame  Nourrisson,"  said  the  detective,  turning  to 
the  other  old  woman,  "pick  the  fruit  too  green,  I  am  told. 
Having  kept  store  so  long  as  you  have,  you  must  be  well 
aware  of  the  laws  and  regulations,  and  I  am  surprised  at  hav- 
ing to  remind  you  that  morals  must  be  respected — under  one- 
and-twenty." 

Madame  Nourrisson  had,  in  fact,  been,  under  the  Empire, 
what  Parent  du  Ch&telet  (whose  work  is  such  a  curious  study 
of  the  great  plague  of  prostitution)  euphemistically  called  a 
"Dame  de  Maison."  She  had  afterward  set  up  in  the  Rue 
Neuve-Saint-Marc  the  store  for  buying  and  selling  old  clothes. 

"  And  you,  you  great  bully,  you  respected  morality,  I  sup- 
posed when,  in  1809,  you  placed  that  girl  of  seventeen  from 
Champagne  in  my  care !  " 

"If  it  is  thirty  years  since  that  folly  was  committed  in  my 
name,"  replied  the  man,  "that  is  thirty  years'  record  in  my 


♦    THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  377 

favor;  for  it  was  the  last  into  which  I  was  ever  drawn  by  a 
petticoat.  However,  dear  ladies,  you  can  make  such  use  as 
you  please  of  my  warnings.  If  mischief  overtakes  you,  you 
cannot  now  complain  that  you  had  not  due  notice. 

**  As  to  you,  my  little  aunt,  what  I  have  to  say  to  you  is 
private  and  confidential." 

At  this  hint  the  other  two  prepared  to  leave. 

"Shall  I  send  for  a  hack  for  you?"  Madame  de  Saint- 
Esteve  asked  Madame  Fontaine. 

"No,  indeed,"  said  the  fortune-teller.  "I  am  going  to 
walk ;  I  am  told  to  take  exercise.  I  told  my  forewoman, 
Ma'ame  Jamouillot,  to  come  for  me." 

"And  you,  Madame  Nourrisson?" 

"  That's  a  good  'un  !  "  said  the  woman.  "A  hack  to  go 
from  the  Rue  de  Provence  to  the  Rue  Neuve-Saint-Marc ! 
Why,  we  are  quite  near  neighbors." 

In  point  of  fact,  the  old  clothes-woman  had  come  in  every- 
day attire :  a  white  cap  with  yellow  ribbons,  a  patent  front  of 
jet  black  curls,  a  black  silk  apron,  and  a  cotton  print  gown 
with  a  dark  blue  ground ;  and,  as  she  said  facetiously,  it  was 
most  unlikely  that  any  one  should  want  to  run  away  with  her. 

In  this  public  protector,  who  on  the  evening  of  the  out- 
break on  the  1 2th  of  May  had  offered  his  services  to  Rastignac, 
every  reader  will  have  recognized  the  notorious  Jacques  Collin, 
alias  Vautrin,  one  of  the  most  familiar  and  elaborately  drawn 
figures  of  the  Human  Comedy, 

But,  as  he  had  told  his  old  friend  Colonel  Franchessini,  he 
was  tired  of  perpetual  thief-hunting ;  there  was  no  longer  any 
hazard  or  anything  unforeseen  in  the  game;  and,  like  a  too 
experienced  gambler,  he  had  ceased  to  take  an  interest  in  it. 
For  some  years  there  had  been  still  some  spice  in  the  business, 
and  that  had  given  him  endurance  for  the  endless  attacks 
and  ambushes  planned  against  him  by  his  old  chums  on  the 
hulks,  who  were  furious  at  what  they  called  his  treason :  but 


378  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

by  this  time  his  cleverness  and  his  good  luck,  which  had 
always  protected  him  from  their  conspiracies,  had  discouraged 
his  foes,  and  they  had  laid  down  their  arms.  Since  then  his 
duties  had  lost  all  their  charm  ;  he  was  anxious  to  change  his 
sphere  of  employment  and  transfer  his  marvelous  instincts  as 
a  spy  and  his  indefatigable  energy  to  that  of  politics. 

Colonel  Franchessini  had  taken  care  to  see  him  again  after 
his  visit  to  Rastignac  ;  and  his  old  fellow-boarder  at  Madame 
Vauquer's  was  not  the  man  to  under-estimate  the  purport  of 
the  minister's  views  as  to  the  luxury  of  such  a  plain  citizen 
life  as  he  had  suggested  to  cast  oblivion  on  the  odious  past 
that  weighed  on  him. 

"  Haha !  "  said  he,  "the  pupil  then  has  outstripped  his 
master !  His  advice  deserves  consideration ;  I  will  think 
about  it." 

In  fact,  he  had  thought  about  it,  and  it  was  under  the  in- 
fluence of  much  meditation  and  careful  examination  of  the 
scheme  proposed  to  him  that  he  had  now  come  to  see  his  aunt, 
Jacqueline  Collin — otherwise  known  as  Madame  de  Saint- 
Esteve — an  alias  they  had  agreed  to  adopt,  which,  while 
masking  the  past  history  of  this  formidable  pair,  marked  their 
close  relationship. 

Jacqueline  Collin  herself,  beside  taking  an  active  part  in 
many  of  her  nephew's  enterprises,  had  led  an  adventurous 
life;  and  on  one  of  the  many  occasions  when  Vautrin  found 
himself  at  variance  with  the  law,  an  examining  judge  had  thus 
summed  up  the  antecedent  history  of  his  much-respected  aunt, 
from  certain  data  furnished  by  the  police,  of  which  there  is 
no  reason  to  doubt  the  accuracy : 

"She  is,  it  would  seem,  an  extremely  cunning  receiver  of 
stolen  goods — for  no  proof  can  be  brought  against  her.  She 
is  said  to  have  been  Marat's  mistress,  and  after  his  death  she 
lived  with  a  chemist,  executed  in  the  year  VIII.  (1799)  as  a 
false  coiner.  She  was  witness  at  the  trial.  While  with  him 
she  acquired  much  dangerous  knowledge  of  poisons.     From 


^^E  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  379 

the  year  IX.,  till  1805,  she  dealt  in  old  clothes.     She  was  in 
prison  for  two  years,  1807-8,  for  entrapping  girls  under  age. 

"  You,  Jacques  Collin,  were  at  that  time  on  your  trial  for 
forgery ;  you  had  left  the  banking-house  where  your  aunt  had 
apprenticed  you  as  clerk  under  favor  of  the  education  you 
had  received  and  the  influence  she  could  wield  over  persons 
for  whose  depravity  she  had  entrapped  victims." 

Since  the  time  when  this  edifying  biography  had  been 
placed  in  her  nephew's  hands,  Jacqueline  Collin,  without 
falling  again  into  the  clutches  of  the  public  prosecutor,  had 
enlarged  her  borders ;  and  when  Vautrin  renounced  the  ways 
of  wickedness,  she  was  far  from  assuming  an  equally  immacu- 
late garb  of  innocence.  But  having — as  he  had — made  a 
great  deal  of  money,  she  would  now  pick  and  choose;  she 
had  kept  at  a  safe  distance  from  the  arm  of  the  law;  and 
under  the  pretense  of  a  more  or  less  decent  line  of  business,  she 
had  carried  on  certain  underground  practices,  to  which  she 
devoted  really  diabolical  intelligence  and  energy. 

We  have  really  learned  from  Desroches  that  the  more  or 
less  matrimonial  agency  managed  by  Madame  de  Saint- 
Esteve  was  situated  in  the  Rue  de  Provence ;  and  we  may  add 
that  it  was  carried  on  on  an  extensive  scale,  occupying  all  the 
second  floor  of  one  of  the  enormous  houses  which  Paris 
builders  raise  from  the  earth  as  if  by  magic.  They  are 
scarcely  finished,  and  never  free  from  debt,  when  they  are  filled 
with  tenants,  at  any  price,  while  waiting  for  a  buyer  to  whom 
they  are  sold  out  of  hand.  If  the  builder  finds  a  fool  to  deal 
with,  he  does  a  fine  stroke  of  business  ;  if,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  purchaser  is  a  tough  customer,  the  builder  has  to  be  con- 
tent with  recovering  his  outlay,  with  a  few  thousand  francs  as 
interest;  unless,  while  the  work  is  going  on,  the  speculation 
has  been  hampered  by  one  of  those  bankruptcies  which  in  the 
building  trade  are  among  the  commonest  and  most  familiar 
complications. 

Women  of  the  town,  business  agents,  still-bom  insurance 


380  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

companies,  newspapers  fated  to  die  young,  the  offices  of  im- 
possible railroad  companies,  discount  brokers  who  borrow 
instead  of  lending,  advertisement  agents,  who  lack  the  pub- 
licity they  profess  to  sell ;  in  short,  all  descriptions  of  shy  or 
doubtful  enterprise  and  trade  combine  to  provide  the  tem- 
porary inhabitants  of  these  republics. 

They  are  built  for  show,  "run  up"  with  perfect  indiffer- 
ence to  the  fact  that  in  the  course  of  a  few  months  settle- 
ment will  hinder  the  windows  from  opening,  warping  will 
split  the  doors,  the  seams  of  the  flooring  will  yawn,  the 
drains,  gutter-pipes,  and  sinks  will  leak,  and  the  whole  card- 
board structure  be  uninhabitable.  That  is  the  purchaser's 
business;  and  he,  after  patching  the  house  up,  is  at  liberty  to 
be  more  fastidious  in  the  choice  of  his  tenants,  and  to  raise 
the  rents. 

Mme.  de  Saint-Estdvc  issued  a  document  which  was  to  offer 
the  assistance  of  a  strictly  commercial  agency  through  which, 
on  the  most  moderate  terms,  wedding  outfits  and  presents 
could  be  procured  from  Paris,  suitable  to  every  fortune  or 
sum  in  settlement.  It  was  only  as  a  modest  N,  B.,  after  an 
estimate  of  cost  of  the  objects  commonly  included  in  such 
lists,  divided,  somewhat  like  an  undertaker's  prospectus,  into 
first,  second,  third,  and  fourth  classes,  that  Madame  de  Saint- 
Esteve  hinted  at  her  "  being  enabled,  through  her  high  social 
connections,  to  facilitate  introductions  between  persons  wish- 
ing to  marry." 

In  Paris  the  lady  herself  appealed  to  public  credulity,  and 
her  means  were  as  ingenious  as  they  were  various.  She  made 
a  bargain  with  a  livery-man,  who  sent  two  or  three  decent- 
looking  carriages  to  stand  for  hours  at  her  door.  Then,  in 
her  waiting-room,  supposed  clients  of  both  sexes,  well  dressed, 
and  affecting  great  impatience,  took  it  in  turns  to  come  in 
and  out,  so  as  to  suggest  a  constant  crowd ;  and,  as  may  be 
supposed,  the  conversation  of  these  confederates — who  pre- 
tended not  to  know  each  other — expatiated   in  suitable  terms 


•SHE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  381 

on  the  merits  and  superior  adroitness  of  Madame  de  Saint- 
Esteve. 

The  ingenious  adventuress,  bvsome  donations  to  the  poor 
and  to  the  charities  of  Notre-Damc  de  Lorette,  her  parish,  got 
an  occasional  call  from  a  priest,  which  was  at  once  a  voucher 
of  respectability  and  of  the  genuineness  of  her  matrimonial 
undertakings.  Another  of  her  ingenious  tricks  was  to  keep 
herself  supplied  by  the  market-woman  with  lists  of  all  the 
fashionable  weddings  in  Paris,  and  to  be  seen  in  the  church 
very  handsomely  dressed,  arriving  in  a  carriage  with  men- 
servants,  so  as  to  allow  it  to  be  inferred  that  she  had  had 
something  to  do  with  bringing  about  the  union  she  had 
honored  with  her  presence. 

On  one  occasion,  however,  a  not  very  tolerant  family  ob- 
jected to  the  idea  of  serving  her  purpose  of  advertisement,  and 
had  treated  her  with  contumely ;  so  she  was  now  cautious  as 
to  how  she  tried  this  plan  for  which  she  had  substituted  a 
system  of  rumor  less  compulsory  and  far  less  dangerous. 
Having  known  Madame  Fontaine  for  many  years — for  there 
is  a  natural  affinity  among  all  these  underground  traffickers — 
she  had  plotted  with  her  for  a  sort  of  reciprocal  insurance 
company  for  working  on  the  credulity  of  the  Parisians  ;  and 
between  these  two  hags  the  terms  were  thus  arranged  :  when  a 
woman  goes  to  have  her  fortune  told,  at  least  eight  times  out 
of  ten  her  curiosity  turns  on  the  question  of  marriage.  So 
when  the  sorceress  announced  to  one  of  her  fair  clients,  in 
time-honored  phraseology,  that  she  would  ere  long  meet  her 
fate  in  the  person  of  a  light-haired  or  a  dark-haired  man,  she 
took  care  to  add  :  "  But  the  union  can  only  be  brought  about 
through  the  agency  of  Madame  de  Saint-Est^ve,  a  very  rich 
and  highly  respectable  woman,  living  in  the  Rue  de  Provence 
Chaussee-d'Antin,  who  has  a  passion  for  match-making." 
While  Madame  de  Saint-Est^ve  on  her  part,  when  she  pro- 
posed a  match,  if  she  thought  there  was  any  chance  of  thus 
promoting  its  success,  would  say:   "But  go  at  any  rate  and 


382  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

consult  the  famous  Madame  Fontaine  as  to  the  outcome  of  the 
negotiation — Rue  Vieille-du-Temple — her  reputation  as  a 
fortune-teller  by  the  cards  is  European  ;  she  never  makes  a 
mistake ;  and  if  she  tells  you  that  I  have  made  a  good  hit,  you 
may  conclude  the  bargain  in  perfect  confidence." 

"  My  dear  granny,"  said  Vautrin,  to  begin  the  conversation 
for  which  he  had  come,  "  I  have  so  many  things  to  tell  you 
that  I  do  not  know  where  to  begin." 

"  I  believe  you — why,  I  have  not  seen  you  for  nearly  a 
week. ' ' 

"To  begin  with,  I  may  as  well  tell  you  that  I  just  missed  a 
splendid  stroke  of  business." 

**What  sort?"  asked  Jacqueline  Collin. 

"  Oh,  all  in  the  way  of  my  vile  trade.  But  this  time  the 
game  was  worth  the  trouble.  Do  you  remember  that  little 
Prussian  engraver  about  whom  I  sent  you  to  Berlin?  " 

"Who  forged  the  Vienna  bank-notes  in  such  an  astounding 
manner?  "  said  the  aunt,  finishing  the  story. 

*'  Well,  not  an  hour  ago  in  the  Rue  Servandoni,  where  I 
had  been  to  see  one  of  my  men  who  is  on  the  sick  list,  pass- 
ing by  a  greengrocer's  shop,  I  fancied  I  recognized  my  man 
buying  a  slice  of  le  Brie  cheese,  which  was  being  wrapped  in 
paper." 

"  It  would  seem  that  he  is  not  much  the  richer  then,  for  all 
he  knows  so  much  about  bank-notes " 

"  My  first  thought,"  Vautrin  went  on,  "was  to  rush  into 
the  store — the  door  was  shut — and  to  collar  my  rogue ;  but, 
not  having  seen  his  face  very  close,  I  was  afraid  of  being  mis- 
taken. He,  it  would  seem,  had  kept  a  lookout ;  he  saw  some 
one  spying  him  through  the  window,  and  presto  !  he  vanished 
into  the  back-store,  and  I  saw  him  no  more " 

"Then,  old  boy,  that  is  what  comes  of  wearing  long  hair 
and  a  beard  all  round  your  chin.  The  game  scents  you  a 
hundred  yards  away  !  " 

"  But  then,  as  you  know,  my  fancy  for  being  easily  recog- 


T^E  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  383 

nized  is  what  most  impresses  my  customers.  *  He  must  be 
jolly  well  sure  of  himself,'  they  say,  'never  to  want  any  dis- 
guise ! '  Nothing  yet  could  or  has  done  so  much  to  make  me 
popular." 

"Well,"  said  Jacqueline,  "so  your  man  was  in  the  back- 
store?" 

"  I  hastily  took  stock  of  the  premises,"  Vautrin  went  on. 
"  The  store  was  on  one  side  of  an  arched  entry;  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  alley  the  door  was  open  to  a  courtyard,  into  which 
there  would  be  a  door  from  the  back-store ;  consequently,  un- 
less the  fellow  lived  in  the  house,  I  was  in  command  of  all  the 
exits.  I  waited  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour ;  it  is  a  long  time 
when  you  are  waiting.  I  looked  into  the  store  in  vain^  no 
sign  of  him.  Three  customers  went  in  ;  the  woman  served 
them  without  seeming  to  be  aware  of  any  one  keeping  an  eye 
on  her,  she  never  gave  a  glance  one  way  or  the  other,  or 
seemed  at  all  on  the  watch.  '  Well !  '  said  I  to  myself  at  last, 
*  he  must  be  a  lodger;  if  not,  the  woman  would  certainly 
have  been  more  puzzled  at  his  going  out  the  back  way.'  So  I 
determined  to  drop  in  and  ask  a  question  or  two.  Pff!  I 
had  scarcely  crossed  the  threshold  wheiTl  heard  steps  in  the 
street — the  bird  had  flown." 

"You  were  in  too  great  a  hurry,  my  dear.  And  yet,  only 
the  other  day  you  said  to  me — '  P-o-l-i-c-e  spells  patience.*" 

"Without  waiting  for  further  information,"  said  Vautrin, 
"  I  was  off  in  pursuit.  Exactly  facing  the  Rue  Servandoni — 
the  name  of  the  architect  who  built  Saint-Sulpice — there  is  a 
door  into  the  church,  which  was  open  because  of  the  month 
of  Mary,  service  being  held  there  every  afternoon.  My  rascal, 
having  the  advantage  of  me,  flew  through  this  door,  and  was 
so  effectually  lost  in  the  crowd  that  when  I  went  in  I  could 
nowhere  find  him." 

"Well,"  said  the  woman,  "  I  cannot  be  sorry  that  the  ras- 
cal stole  a  march  on  you.  I  always  feel  some  interest  in  a 
smasher.     Coining  is  a  neat  sort  of  crime,  and  clean ;  no 


384  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

blood  spilt,  no  harm  done  but  to  that  mean  hunks  the  Govern- 
ment." 

"  In  spite  of  your  admiration,  you  will  have  to  go  to-morrow 
and  pick  up  some  information  from  the  greengrocer  woman, 
who  must  certainly  know  him,  since  she  winked  at  his  escape. 
When  I  went  back  to  the  store  I  found  shutters  and  doors  all 
shut  up.     I  had  lost  some  time  in  the  church " 

"Listening  to  a  singer,  I  bet,"  interrupted  the  aunt. 

"  Quite  true.     How  did  you  know  ?  ' 

"  Why,  all  Paris  is  crowding  to  hear  her,"  replied  Jacque- 
line Collin,  "and  I  know  her,  too,  in  my  own  little  way." 

"  What !  That  voice  that  touched  me  so  deeply,  that  took 
me  back  fifty  years  to  my  first  communion  under  the  good  ora- 
torian  fathers,  who  brought  me  up — that  woman  who  made 
me  cry,  and  transformed  me  for  five  minutes  into  a  saint — 
and  you  have  her  on  your  books ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Madame  de  Saint-Esteve  carelessly,  "I  have 
a  transaction  on  hand  for  her :  I  am  getting  her  on  to  the 
stage." 

"  Aha  !  So  you  are  a  dramatic  agent  too  ?  Matrimony  is 
not  enough?  " 

"This  is  the  case  in  two  words,  my  boy:  ^he  is  an  Italian, 
as  handsome  as  can  be,  come  from  Rome  with  an  idiot  of  a 
sculptor,  whom  she  worships  without  his  supecting  it.  Indeed, 
this  Joseph  cares  so  little  about  her  that,  after  using  her  as  his 
model  for  a  statue,  he  has  never  yet  been  at  the  pains  to  be 
more  than  civil." 

"That  is  a  man  who  ought  to  do  well  in  his  art,"  remarked 
Jacques  Collin,  "  with  such  a  contempt  for  women  and  so 
much  strength  of  mind." 

"  And  the  proof  of  that,"  replied  Jacqueline,  "  is  that  he 
has  just  given  up  his  art  to  become  a  deputy  of  the  Chamber. 
It  was  about  him  that  I  said  to  old  Fontaine  that  she  might 
have  found  something  to  write  you.  I  sent  my  Italian  to 
her,  and  she  told  the  cards  as  regards  this  ice-bound  lover." 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  386 

"And  how  did  you  come  to  know  the  woman?" 

**  Through  old  Ronquerolles.  Having  gone  to  see  the 
sculptor  one  day,  in  the  matter  of  a  duel  in  which  he  was 
second,  he  saw  this  jewel  of  a  woman,  and  became  auite  Nu- 
cingen  about  her." 

"  And  you  undertook  the  negotiations?  " 

"  As  you  ^ay.  It  was  above  a  month  ago,  and  the  poor 
man  had  had  all  his  pains  for  nothing.  Now  I,  having  the 
matter  in  hand,  made  inquiries ;  I  found  out  that  the  beauty 
was  a  member  of  the  sisters  of  the  Virgin  ;  thereupon  I  called 
on  her  as  a  Dame  de  Charite,  or  charitable  lady,  and  imagine 
what  luck  for  me  as  a  beginning — the  sculptor  was  in  the 
country  getting  himself  elected " 

"  I  have  no  fears  about  you ;  at  the  same  time,  a  lady  of 
charity  who  undertakes  a  theatrical  agency !  " 

"  By  the  time  I  had  seen  her  twice  she  had  told  me  all  her 
little  secrets,"  the  old  woman  went  on.  "  That  she  could  no 
longer  bear  life  with  that  man  of  marble  ;  that  she  was  deter- 
mined to  owe  nothing  to  him ;  and  that  having  studied  for 
the  stage,  if  she  could  only  secure  an  engagement,  she  would 
run  away.  So  one  day  I  went  off  to  her  and  arrived  quite 
out  of  breath  to  tell  her  that  a  friend  of  mine — a  great  lord, 
highly  respectable,  old,  virtuous — to  whom  I  had  spoken  of 
her,  would  undertake  to  get  her  an  opening  and  I  asked  her 
to  let  me  take  him  to  see  her." 

"A  word  and  a  blow  !  "  said  Jacques  Collin. 

"  Yes;  but  she,  a  devil  for  suspiciousness,  and  less  bent  on 
deserting  her  sculptor  than  she  had  thought,  kept  me,  shilly- 
shally, from  day  to  day.  So  at  last,  to  give  her  a  shove,  I 
hinted  that  she  should  go  and  consult  old  Fontaine,  as  indeed 
she  was  ready  enough  to  do. 

"  It  is  of  no  use  to  talk;  I  must  proceed  with  caution.     If 

he  should    make    difficulties   about    our   enticing   away   the 

woman,  whom  he  would  perhaps  think  he  wanted  as  soon  as 

she  ceased  to  want  him,  he  would  hold  a  very  strong  hand. 

25 


386  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

And  that  selfish  old  brute  Ronquerolles,  who  is  only  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Upper  House,  would  not  be  much  protection 
against  a  deputy  of  the  Chamber " 

**  That  old  rip  Ronquerolles  is  not  the  man  for  that  woman," 
said  Jacques  Collin.  "IC^he  is  an  honest  woman,  we  must 
keep  her  so.  I  know  a  really  respectable  man  who  will  get 
her  on  to  the  stage  on  honorable  terms,  and  secure  her  a 
splendid  position  without  asking  for  anything  in  return." 

"What!  you  know  of  any  such  phenomenon?  I  should 
be  truly  glad  to  have  his  address ;  I  would  leave  a  card  on 
him." 

"All  right — Petite  Rue  Sainte-Anne,  Quai  des  Crfevres: 
you  will  find  a  man  there  of  your  acquaintance." 

"Are  you  guying  me?"  cried  the  woman,  who  in  her  as- 
tonishment fell  back  on  the  low  slang  which  she  had  spoken 
so  fluently  of  yore. 

**  No,  I  am  quite  serious.  That  woman  touched  me ;  she 
interests  me;  and  I  have  another  reason " 

Vautrin  then  related  his  proceedings  with  regard  to  Ras- 
tignac.  Colonel  Franchessini's  intervention,  the  minister's 
reply,  and  his  transcendental  theories  of  social  reorganiza- 
tion. 

"And  that  little  ape  thinks  he  can  teach  us!"  exclaimed 
the  aunt. 

"  He  is  in  the  right,"  said  Vautrin,  "  only  the  woman  was 
wanting;  you  have  found  her  for  me." 

"Yes,  but  it  will  be  sheer  ruination." 

"And  for  whom  are  we  saving?  We  have  no  heirs,  and  I 
do  not  suppose  you  feel  urgently  drawn  to  found  a  hospital, 
or  prizes  for  distinguished  merit?" 

"  I  am  not  such  a  softhead,"  replied  the  woman.  "  Beside, 
as  you  know,  my  Jacques,  I  have  never  kept  an  account 
against  you.  Still,  I  foresee  one  difficulty :  this  woman  is  as 
proud  as  a  Roman — which  she  is,  and  your  confounded  duties 


TIfE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  3S7 

"There,  you  see,"  Jacques  Collin  eagerly  put  in,  "I  must 
at  any  price  escape  from  a  life  where  one  is  liable  to  such 
insults.  But  be  easy ;  I  can  avert  this  particular  offense.  My 
business  justifies  me  in  playing  every  part  in  turn  ;  and,  as  you 
will  remember,  I  am  not  a  bad  actor.  I  may  put  a  whole 
rainbow  of  orders  in  my  button-hole  to-morrow  and  take  a 
house  in  any  aristocratic  name  I  may  choose  to  assume.  The 
fun  of  the  carnival  lasts  all  the  year  round  for  a  detective. 

"  I  have  already  hit  on  a  plan.  I  know  the  man  I  mean  to 
be.  You  may  tell  your  Italian  that  Count  Halphertius — a 
great  Swedish  lord,  crazy  about  music  and  philanthropy — 
takes  a  great  interest  in  her  advancement.  In  point  of  fact, 
I  will  furnish  a  house  for  her;  I  will  strictly  observe  the  vir- 
tuous disinterestedness  to  which  you  may  pledge  me  ;  in  short, 
I  will  be  her  recognized  patron.  As  to  the  engagement  she 
wishes  for,  I  wish  it  too ;  for  my  own  future  purpose  I  want  her 
to  be  glorious  and  brilliant ;  and  we  are  not  Jacques  and 
Jacqueline  Collin  if,  with  her  gifts  and  our  gold  and  determi- 
nation, we  fail  in  making  her  so." 

"  But  then  comes  the  question  whether  Rastignac  will  think 
you  have  won  ;  it  was  Monsieur  de  Saint-Esteve,  the  head  of 
the  detective  police,  that  he  told  you  to  whitewash." 

"  Not  at  all,  old  lady.  There  is  no  such  person  as  Saint- 
Esteve,  no  Jacques  Collin,  no  Vautrin,  no  Tromjje-la-Mort, 
no  Carlos  Herrera :  there  is  a  remarkably  powerful  mind, 
strong  and  vigorous,  offering  its  services  to  the  Government. 
I  am  bringing  it  from  the  North,  and  christening  it  with  a 
foreign  name,  and  this  makes  me  all  the  better  fitted  for  the 
political  and  diplomatic  police  whose  functions  I  henceforth 
intend  to  exercise." 

"You  forge  ahead!  it  is  wonderful.  But  first  we  must 
catch  the  jewel  who  is  to  make  such  a  show  for  you,  and  we 
have  not  got  her  yet." 

"  That  is  no  difficulty]  I  have  seen  you  at  work,  and  when 
you  will  you  can." 


388  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

'*  I  will  try,"  said  Jacqueline  Collin  diffidently.  "Come 
and  see  me  again  to-morrow  night,  at  any  rate ;  perhaps  I 
may  have  something  to  show." 

"And  meanwhile,  do  not  forget  the  greengrocer's  store  in 
the  Rue  Servandoni,  No.  12,  where  you  are  to  make  inquiries.. 
That  capture,  as  being  important  to  a  foreign  government, 
has  a  political  air  about  it  that  would  be  of  service  toward 
helping  me  to  my  end." 

."  I  will  give  you  a  good  account  of  the  storewoman,  never 
fear,"  said  Jacqueline.  "  But  the  other  affair  is  rather  more 
ticklish  ;  we  must  not  handle  it  roughly," 

"  You  have  a  free  hand,"  replied  Vautrin.  "  I  have  always 
found  you  equal  to  any  undertaking,  however  difficult.  So 
farewell  till  to-morrow." 

On  the  following  day  Vautrm  was  sitting  in  his  office  in 
the  Petite  Rue  Sainte-Anne  when  he  received  the  following 
note — 

"  You  are  much  to  be  pitied,  my  old  boy ;  everything  is 
working  out  as  you  want  it.  Early  this  morning  I  was  told 
that  a  lady  wished  to  speak  to  me.  Who  should  come  in  but 
our  Italian,  to  whom  I  had  given  my  address  in  case  she 
should  need  me  in  a  hurry.  Her  Joseph  having  spoken  last 
evening,  in  cheerful  terms,  of  his  intention  that  they  should 
part  company,  the  poor  dear  had  not  closed  her  eyes  all 
night,  and  her  little  brain  is  in  such  a  pother  that  she  came 
straight  to  me,  begging  me  to  introduce  her  to  my  respectable 
friend,  in  whose  hands  she  is  prepared  to  place  herself  iT  he  is 
to  be  trusted,  because  she  feels  it  a  point  of  honor  to  owe 
nothing  more  to  that  icicle  who  can  disdain  her.  So  come  at 
once  in  the  new  skin  you  have  chosen,  and  then  it  is  your 
business  to  make  your  way  to  the  charmer's  good  graces. 
"  Your  affectionate  aunt, 

"J.   C.  DE  SAINT-ESTfeVE." 


THE_   DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  389 

Vautrin  replied  as  follows — 

"  I  will  be  with  you  this  evening  at  nine.  I  hope  the  change 
in  my  decorative  treatment  will  be  so  handsome  that  if  I  had 
not  told  you  the  name  I  shall  assume,  you  would  find  it  diffi- 
cult  to  recognize  me.  I  have  already  taken  steps  in  the  mat- 
ter of  the  engagement,  and  can  speak  of  it  in  such  a  way  that 
the  charmer  will  form  a  good  idea  of  her  Papa's  wealth  and 
influence. 

"  Sell  some  stock  out  in  the  course  of  the  day  for  a  rather 
considerable  sum  ;  we  must  have  ready  money ;  I,  on  my 
part,  will  do  the  same.     Till  this  evening, 

"  Your  nephew  and  friend, 

>*  "Saint-Esteve." 

That  evening,  punctual  to  the  hour  he  had  fixed,  Vautrin 
went  to  his  aunt's  rooms.  On  this  occasion  he  went  up  the 
main  staircase,  and  was  announced  as  Monsieur  le  Comte 
Halphertius  by  the  negro,  who  did  not  recognize  him. 

Warned  though  she  was  of  his  metamorphosis,  Jacqueline 
stood  in  amazement  at  this  really  great  actor,  who  was  alto- 
gether another  man.  His  long  hair,  a  la  Franklin,  was  now 
short  and  curled  and  powdered  ;  his  eyebrows  and  whiskers, 
cutlet-shaped,  in  the  style  of  the  Empire,  were  dyed  dark 
brown,  in  strong  contrast  with  the  powdered  wig  ;  and  a  false 
mustache  of  the  same  hue  gave  his  not  naturally  noble  features 
a  stamp  of  startling  originality,  which  might,  by  a  stretch  of 
imagination,  be  called  distinction.  A  black  satin  stock  gave 
deportment  to  his  head.  He  wore  a  blue  tail-coat,  buttoned 
across,  and  in  one  button-hole  an  inch  of  ribbon  displayed 
the  colors  of  half  the  orders  of  Europe.  A  nankeen  vest,  vis- 
ible below  the  coat-front,  effected  a  harmonious  transition  to 
pearl-gray  trousers;  patent-leather  boots  and  lemon  kid  gloves 
completed  the  "get-up,"  which  aimed  at  careless  elegance. 
The  powder,  of  which  the  last  wearers  could  now  easily  be 


390  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

counted,  gave  the  crowning  touch  to  an  old  foreign  diplo- 
matist, and  a  very  happy  sobriety  to  a  costume  which,  but  for 
that  corrective,  might  have  appeared  too  juvenile. 

After  giving  a  few  minutes  to  admiration  of  his  disguise, 
Vautrin  asked  his  aunt — 

"Is  she  here?" 

"Yes,"  said  Jacqueline.  "  The  angel  retired  to  her  room 
half  an  hour  ago  to  tell  her  beads,  now  that  she  is  deprived  of 
attending  the  services  of  the  month  of  Mary.  But  she  impa- 
tiently awaits  your  visit,  seeing  how  I  have  sung  your  praises 
all  day." 

"And  what  does  she  think  of  your  house  ?  Does  she  repent 
of  the  step  she  has  taken  ?  " 

"  Her  pride  would  in  any  case  be  too  great  to  allow  of  her 
showing  such  a  feeling.  Beside,  I  have  cleverly  won  her  con- 
fidence, and  she  is  one  of  those  persons  who  are  determined 
never  to  look  back  when  once  they  hive  started." 

"  The  best  of  the  joke,"  said  Vautrin,  "  is  that  her  deputy, 
who  is  worried  about  her,  was  sent  to  me  by  Monsieur  le 
Prefet  that  I  might  help  him  to  find  her." 

"  He  wants  her,  then  ?  " 

"  He  is  not  in  love  with  her,  you  understand,  but  he  con- 
sidered her  as  being  in  his  care,  and  he  was  afraid  that  she 
might  have  taken  it  into  her  head  to  kill  herself,  or  might 
have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  some  intriguing  woman.  And 
you  know  that,  but  for  my  fatherly  intervention,  he  would 
have  laid  his  finger  on  the  spot." 

"And  what  did  you  say  to  your  flat?  " 

"  Oh,  of  course,  I  allowed  him  to  hope,  but  really  and  truly 
I  was  sorry  not  to  be  able  to  do  what  he  asked  me.  I  took  a 
fancy  to  him  at  once ;  he  has  a  pleasant  way  with  him,  ener- 
getic and  clever,  and  it  strikes  me  that  our  friends  the  Min- 
istry will  find  him  a  pretty  tough  customer." 

"  So  much  the  worse  for  him  ;  he  should  not  have  driven 
the  dear  child  to  extremities,"   said  the  aunt      "And   the 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  391 

engagement,  for  which  you  said  you  had  the  irons  in  the 
fire?" 

"You  know  what  a  queer  thing  luck  is,  my  beauty,"  re- 
plied Vautrin,  taking  out  a  newspaper.  "  Good  or  bad,  it 
always  comes  in  squalls.  This  morning,  after  receiving  your 
letter,  which  brought  me  such  good  news,  I  opened  this  the- 
atrical journal  and  read  this  paragraph  :  *  The  Italian  opera 
season  in  London,  which  began  so  badly  by  the  lawsuit  that 
brought  to  light  the  pecuniary  difficulties  under  which  Sir 
Francis  Drake's  management  is  struggling,  seems  still  further 
embarrassed  by  the  serious  illness  of  la  Serboni,  necessitating 
her  absence  from  the  stage  for  an  indefinite  period.  Sir 
Francis  arrived  yesterday  at  the  Hotel  des  Princes,  Rue  de 
Richelieu,  having  come  in  search  of  two  desiderata — a  prima 
donna  and  some  funds.  But  the  hapless  impresario  is  moving 
in  a  vicious  circle  \  for  without  money  no  prima  donna,  and 
without  a  prima  donna  no  money. 

** '  We  may  hope,  however,  that  he  will  escape  from  this 
dead-lock ;  for  Sir  Francis  Drake  has  a  character  for  being 
honest  and  intelligent,  and  with  such  a  reputation  he  will 
surely  not  find  every  door  closed  to  him.'  " 

"  Men  of  the  world  are  your  journalists  !  "  said  the  old  aunt 
with  a  knowing  air.  **  Is  every  door  to  be  thrown  open  be- 
cause a  man  is  honest  and  intelligent?  " 

"  In  the  present  case,"  said  Vautrin,  "  the  phrase  is  not  so 
far  wrong;  for  the  moment  I  had  read  the  article  I  figged 
myself  out,  as  you  see,  took  a  private  coach,  and  went  off  to 
the  address  given, 

"  'Sir  Francis  Drake?  '  I  asked. 

**  'I  do  not  know  whether  he  can  see  you,  sir,'  says  the 
gentleman's  gentleman,  coming  forward  ;  he  was  there,  I 
strongly  suspect,  to  give  the  same  answer  to  any  one  who 
might  call.  '  He  is  with  the  Baron  de  Nucingen,'  he  added 
apologetically. 

**  I   made   believe   to   look   through    a    pocket-book   well 


392  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

Stuffed  with  bank-notes  for  a  card,  which,  of  course,  I  had 
not  got. 

"  '  Well,'  said  I,  with  a  slight  German  accent  and  a  sprink- 
ling of  Germanisms,  *  I  am  Count  Halphertius,  a  Sv/edish 
gentleman.  Tell  Sir  Francis  Drake  I  had  come  for  to  discuss 
some  business.  I  shall  go  to  the  Bourse,  where  I  give  some 
orders  to  my  broker,  and  I  shall  come  back  after  a  half- 
hour.' 

"Saying  this  in  the  most  lordly  tone,  I  went  back  to  my 
carriage.  I  had  only  set  foot  on  the  step  when  the  lackey, 
running  after  me,  said  he  had  made  a  mistake ;  that  Mon- 
sieur de  Nucingen  was  gone,  and  his  master  could  see  me 
at  once." 

"  Trying  their  games  on  us  !  "  said  Jacqueline  Collin,  with 
a  shrug. 

"  Sir  Francis  Drake,"  Vautrin  went  on,  "  is  a  regular  Eng- 
lishman, very  bald,  with  a  red  nose,  and  large  prominent 
yellow  teeth.  He  received  me  with  frigid  politeness,  and 
asked  me  in  good  French  what  my  business  was. 

"'Just  now,'  said  I,  *at  the  Cafe  de  Paris,  I  read  this,' 
and  I  handed  him  the  paper,  pointing  to  the  place. 

"*It  is  inconceivable,*  said  he,  returning  me  the  news- 
paper, *  that  a  man's  credit  should  be  thus  cried  down  pub- 
licly.' 

"  '  The  journalist  is  wrong  ?    You  have  no  want  of  money  ? ' 

"'You  may  imagine,  monsieur,  that  I  should  not  in  any 
case  try  to  obtain  it  through  the  medium  of  a  theatrical 
journal.' 

"'Very  good!  Then  have  we  nothing  to  talk  about?' 
said  I,  rising.  '  I  come  to  put  some  money  in  your  busi- 
ness.' 

"'I  would  rather  you  had  a  prima  donna  to  offer  me!' 
said  he. 

"  '  I  offer  you  both,'  said  I,  sitting  down  again.  '  One  not 
without  the  other.' 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  393 

**  *  Of  well-known  talent  ?  '  asked  the  impresario. 

"'Not  at  all  known,'  replied  I,  'Never  seen  yet  at  any 
theatre.' 

"  '  Hum — risky,'  said  the  gentleman  with  a  cunning  look. 
'The  protectors  of  youthful  talent  often  make  great  mis- 
takes. ' 

"'But  I  offer  you  a  hundred  thousand  crowns — as  an  in- 
vestment— for  you  only  for  to  listen  to  my  nightingale.' 

"  *  That  would  be  a  large  sum  for  so  little  trouble,  and  but 
a  small  one  as  a  help  to  ray  management  if  it  were  in  such 
diflSculties  as  your  paper  says.' 

"'Well,  then,  hear  us  for  nothing;  if  we  are  what  you 
want,  and  you  make  a  handsome  offer,  I  will  put  down  twice 
so  much.' 

"  '  You  speak  with  a  freedom  that  invites  confidence ;  from 
what  country  is  your  young  prima  ? ' 

"  '  Roman — of  Rome — a  pure-bred  Italian,  and  very  hand- 
some. You  may  believe  if  I  am  interested  in  her;  I  went 
mad  about  her,  only  for  that  I  had  heard  her  a  long  way  off 
in  a  church.     I  did  not  see  her  till  afterward.' 

"'But  it  strikes  me,'  said  the  Englishman,  'that  women 
do  not  sing  in  church  in  Italy.'  " 

"Well!"  said  Madame  de  Saint-Est^ve,  "are  there 
churches  nowhere  but  in  Italy?" 

"  Precisely,"  said  Vautrin.  "I  felt  that  to  give  some  ap- 
pearance of  reality  to  my  disguise  and  my  proceedings,  I  must 
assume  some  suspicion  of  eccentricity ;  so  seizing  the  oppor- 
tunity of  getting  up  a  German  quarrel — 

"  '  I  beg  to  remark,  monsieur,'  said  I  in  a  very  pugnacious 
tone,  '  that  you  have  done  me  the  honor  of  give  me  the  one 
lie.' 

"'What!'  said  the  Englishman  in  amazement,  'nothing 
could  be  further  from  my  thoughts.' 

'"It  is  plainly  so,  all  the  same,'  said  I.  'I  tell  you,  I 
heard  the  signora  in  church ;  you  say :   "  Women  do  not  sing 


394  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

in  church  in  Italy  " — that  is  so  much  as  to  say  I  shall  not 
have  heard  lier.' 

*'  *  But  you  7nay  have  heard  her  in  another  country.' 

"  'You  should  have  thought  of  that/  said  I,  in  the  same 
quarrelsome  tone,  *  before  you  made  that  remark — extraordi- 
nary remark.  At  any  rate,  I  see  we  shall  not  agree.  The 
signora  can  wait  till  the  Italian  opera  opens  in  Paris  in  Oc- 
tober. Artists  get  much  better  known  here.  So,  Monsieur 
Drake,  I  wish  you  a  good-morning.*  And  I  really  seemed 
about  to  leave." 

''Well  played  !  "  said  his  aunt. 

In  all  the  most  risky  affairs  undertaken  by  them  in  common, 
they  had  always  duly  considered  the  artistic  side. 

"Well,  to  make  a  long  story  short,"  said  Vautrin,  "hav- 
ing thus  brought  my  man  to  the  sticking-point,  we  parted  on 
these  terms — I  am  to  put  down  a  hundred  thousand  crowns 
in  money,  the  signora  gets  fifty  thousand  crowns  for  the  re- 
mainder of  the  season,  supposing  her  voice  is  satisfactory  ; 
and,  to  judge  of  her  quality,  we  are  to  meet  to-morrow  at  two 
o'clock  at  Pape's,  where  Sir  Francis  Drake  will  have  brought 
two  or  three  friends  to  assist  him,  to  whose  presence  I  have 
consented.  We  are  to  be  supposed  to  have  gone  to  choose  a 
piano.  I  said,  just  to  keep  up  the  game,  that  the  lady  might 
be  terrified  at  the  solemnity  of  a  formal  hearing,  and  that  we 
are  more  sure  in  this  way  of  knowing  what  she  can  really  do." 

"But  I  say,  old  boy,"  said  Jacqueline,  "a  hundred  thou- 
sand crowns  is  a  lot  of  money  !  " 

"  Just  the  sum  that  I  inherited  from  that  poor  boy  Lucien 
de  Rubempre,"  said  Vautrin  carelessly.  "However,  I  have 
gone  into  the  matter.  Sir  Francis  Drake,  with  some  one  to 
back  him,  may  have  a  very  good  season.  There  is  my  secre- 
tary, Theodore  Calvi,  who  is  mine  for  life  or  death.  He  is 
very  alert  on  all  questions  of  interest.  I  have  secured  him 
the  place  of  cashier,  and  he  will  keep  an  eye  on  the  partner's 
profits.     Now,  there  is  but  one  thing  that  I  am  anxious  about. 


TME  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  806 

Signora  Luigia  moved  me  deeply,  but  I  am  no  connoisseur ; 
artists  may  not  think  of  her  as  I  do." 

"Artists  have  pronounced  on  her,  my  ducky;  her  sculptor 
never  thought  of  giving  her  the  key  of  the  fields  till  she  had 
been  heard  by  a  certain  Jacques  Bricheteau,  an  organist  and  a 
first-rate  musician.  They  were  at  Saint-Sulpice  the  very  even- 
ing of  your  pious  fit,  and  the  organist  declared  that  the  woman 
had  sixty  thousand  francs  in  her  voice  whenever  she  pleased — 
those  were  his  words." 

"Jacques  Bricheteau  !  "  said  Vautrin  ;  "why,  I  know  the 
man.  There  is  a  fellow  of  that  name  employed  in  one  of  the 
police  departments." 

"Well,  then,"  said  his  aunt,  "it  is  your  nightingale's 
good  fortune  to  be  under  the  protection  of  the  police  !  " 

"  No,  I  remember,"  said  Vautrin.  "  This  Jacques  Briche- 
teau was  an  inspector  of  nuisances,  who  has  just  been  dis- 
missed for  meddling  in  politics.  Well,  now,  suppose  you 
were  to  effect  the  introduction.     It  is  late." 

Jacqueline  Collin  had  hardly  left  the  room  to  go  for  Luigia, 
when  there  was  a  great  commotion  in  the  anteroom  leading  to 
it.  Immediately  after  the  door  was  thrown  open,  and  in 
spite  of  a  desperate  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  negro,  who 
had  been  expressly  ordered  to  admit  nobody  whatever,  in 
came  a  personage  whose  advent  was,  to  say  the  least,  inoppor- 
tune, if  not  altogether  unexpected.  In  spite  of  an  insolently 
aristocratic  demeanor,  the  new-comer,  caught  in  his  violence 
by  a  stranger,  was  for  a  moment  disconcerted,  and  Vautrin 
was  malicious  enough  to  intensify  the  situation  by  saying  with 
Teutonic  bluntness — 

"Monsieur  is  an  intimate  friend  of  Madame  de  Saint- 
Esteve's?" 

"I  have  something  of  importance  to  say  to  her,"  replied 
the  intruder,  "  and  that  servant  is  such  an  ass  that  he  cannot 
tell  you  plainly  whether  his  mistress  is  at  home  or  out." 


396  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"  I  can  bear  witness  that  she  is  out,"  replied  the  supposed 
Count  Halphertius.  "  For  more  than  an  hour  I  have  wait  for 
to  see  her,  by  her  own  appointment.  She  is  a  flighty  thing, 
and  I  believe  she  is  gone  to  the  theatre,  for  what  her  nephew 
have  sent  her  a  ticket,  the  negro  tellcd  me." 

**  At  whatever  hour  she  may  come  in  I  must  see  her,"  said 
the  new-comer,  taking  an  easy-chair,  into  which  he  settled 
himself. 

"For  me,  I  wait  no  longer,"  replied  Vautrin. 

And,  having  bowed,  he  preparea  to  leave.  Then  Madame 
de  Saint-Esteve  appeared  on  the  scene.  Warned  by  the  negro, 
she  had  put  on  a  bonnet  and  thrown  a  shawl  over  her  shoulders, 
to  appear  as  if  she  had  just  come  in. 

"Gracious!"  she  exclaimed,  with  well-feigned  surprise. 
"  Monsieur  de  RonqueroUes,  here,  at  this  hour!  " 

"  Devil  take  you  !  what  do  you  mean  by  shouting  out  my 
name?"  said  her  customer  in  an  undertone. 

Vautrin,  entering  into  the  farce,  turned  back,  and  coming 
up  with  an  obsequious  bow — 

"Monsieur  le  Marquis  de  RonqueroUes?  "  said  he,  "  peer 
of  France,  formerly  her  ambassador.  I  am  glad  to  have 
spent  a  minute  with  a  statesman  so  well  known — a  so  perfect 
diplomatist !  " 

And  with  a  respectful  flourish  he  went  to  the  door. 

"What,  baron,  going  so  soon?"  said  the  old  woman, 
trying  to  assume  the  tone  and  accent  of  a  dowager  of  the 
Faubourg  Saint-Germain. 

"Yes.  Monsieur  le  Marquis  has  much  to  talk  to  you.  I 
shall  return  back  to-morrow  at  eleven — and  be  punctual." 

"Very  well;  to-morrow  at  eleven,"  said  his  aunt.  "But 
I  may  tell  you  everything  is  going  on  swimmingly ;  the  lady 
thinks  you  will  be  all  she  could  wish." 

Another  bow  and  Vautrin  was  gone. 

"Who  in  the  world  is  that  strange  creature?"  asked 
RonqueroUes. 


TOE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  8W 

"A  Prussian  baron  for  whom  I  am  finding  a  wife,"  replied 
the  woman.  "  Well,"  she  went  on,  "  is  there  anything  new 
that  you  so  pressingly  want  to  speak  to  me?" 

"Yes.  And  something  which  you  ought  to  have  known  ! 
The  fair  one  left  the  sculptor's  house  this  morning." 

"  Pooh  !  "  said  Jacqueline.     "  Who  told  you  that  ?  " 

"My  man,  who  has  seen  the  maid-of-all-work." 

"  Hah  !  Then  you  keep  several  irons  hot !  "  said  she,  glad 
of  an  excuse  for  a  quarrel. 

"  My  good  woman,  you  were  making  no  way  at  all,  and  the 
matter  has  been  in  hand  a  month " 

**  You  seem  to  think  that  all  you  want  is  to  be  had  ready- 
made,  and  that  an  Italian  is  the  same  soft  tinder  as  your  Paris 
sluts  !     And  then  you  are  so  liberal !  " 

"  Why,  you  have  extracted  more  than  three  bank-notes  for 
a  thousand  francs  already  for  your  sham  expenses." 

"A  perfect  fortune  !  And  what  about  the  engagement  you 
undertook  to  arrange  ?  " 

"  Can  I  open  the  Italian  opera  expressly  for  that  woman  ? 
If  she  would  have  sung  at  the  French  house " 

"  There  is  Italian  opera  in  London  though  not  in  Paris  for 
the  moment,  and  the  manager,  as  it  happens,  is  over  here  in 
search  of  z. prima.' ^ 

"  So  I  saw  in  the  papers,  of  course  ;  but  what  good  could 
I  do  by  trying  to  deal  with  a  bankrupt  ?  " 

"  Why,  that  is  your  best  chance.  You  bolster  up  the  man, 
and  then,  out  of  gratitude " 

"Oh,  certainly!"  said  the  marquis,  shrugging  his  shoul- 
ders. "A  mere  trifle  of  five  hundred  thousand  francs — what 
la  Torpille  cost  Nucingen  !  " 

"  My  good  man,  you  want  the  woman  or  you  don't.  Es- 
ther had  tried  the  streets.  This  Italian  is  at  least  as  hand- 
some, and  virtuous — green  seal  !  Then  she  has  a  glorious 
voice.  You  have  forked  out  three  thousand-franc  bills ; 
what  is  that,  pray,  to  make  such  a  noise  about  ?  " 


398  THE   DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"  Did  you  or  did  you  not  undertake  the  business?" 
"  I  did.     And  I  ought  to  have  it  left  entirely  to  me  ;  and 
if  I  had  supposed  that  I  was  going  to  be  checked  off  by  your 
manservant,  I  would  have  asked  you  to  apply  elsewhere.     I 
do  not  care  to  have  a  partner  in  the  game." 

**  But,  you  conceited  old  thing,  but  for  that  fellow,  would 
you  have  known  what  I  have  just  told  you  ?" 
"  And  did  he  tell  you  the  ^-est  of  the  story  ?  " 
"  The  rest  of  the  story  ?    What  ?  "  said  the  marquis  eagerly. 
"  Certainly.     Who  got  the  bird  out  of  its  nest,  and  in  what 
cage  it  may  be  at  this  present  speaking." 
"Then  you  know?"  cried  Ronquerolles. 
**  If  I  do  not  know,  I  can  make  a  guess." 
"Then,  tell  me,"  said  he,  in  great  excitement. 
"You,  who  know  every  queer  specimen,  old  or  young,  in 
the  Paris  menagerie,  must  certainly  have  heard  of  Count  Hal- 
phertius,  a  Swede — enormously  rich,  and  just  arrived." 
"  I  never  heard  his  name  till  this  moment." 
"  You  had  better  ask  your  servant ;  he  can  tell  you." 
"Come,  come;  do  not  try  finessing.     This  Count  Hal- 

phertius,  you  say ?" 

"Is  music-mad — and  as  woman-mad  as  Nucingen." 
"  And  you  think  that  la  Luigia  will  have  flown  that  way?" 
"  I  know  that  he  was  hovering  round  her  ;  he  even  charged 
me  to  make  her  splendid  offers,  and  if  I  had  not  pledged  my- 
self to  you " 

"  Oh,  I  daresay;  you  are  a  dame  of  such  lofty  virtue  !  " 
"Is  that  the  way  you  take  it?"   said  Jacqueline  Collin, 
putting  her  hand  in  her  pocket  and  pulling  out  a  purse  fairly 
well  filled  with  notes.     "  You  can  take  your  money  back,  my 
boy,  and  I  only  beg  you  to  trouble  me  no  further." 

"Get  along,  you  wrong-headed  creature,"  replied  the  mar- 
quis, seeing  three  thousand-franc  notes  held  out  to  him. 
"  What  I  have  given,  you  know  I  never  take  back." 

"  And  I  never  keep  what  I  have  not  earned.    You  are  done. 


THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  399 

Monsieur  le  Marquis.  I  am  working  for  Count  Halphertius ; 
I  brought  away  the  lady ;  she  is  hidden  here,  in  my  rooms, 
and  to-morrow  morning  she  and  the  Swede  set  out  for  Lon- 
don, where  a  splendid  engagement  awaits  her !  " 

"  No,  no,  I  do  not  believe  that  you  would  cheat  me,"  said 
RonqueroUes,  fancying  that  the  fact  thus  fired  at  him  point- 
blank  was  really  the  sarcasm  it  appeared.  "  We  are  old 
friends,  you  know ;  pocket  those  bank-notes,  and  tell  me  hon- 
estly what  you  think  of  this  rich  foreigner  as  a  rival." 

"Well,  I  have  told  you.  He  is  enormously  rich;  he  will 
stick  at  no  sacrifice ;  and  I  know  that  he  has  had  several  talks 
with  Madame  Nourrisson." 

"  Then  you  learned  all  those  facts  from  that  old  carrion?" 

"  Madame  Nourrisson  is  my  friend,"  said  Madame  de  Saint- 
Estdve,  with  much  dignity.  "  We  may  be  competing  to  gain 
the  same  prize,  but  that  is  no  reason  for  her  being  evil-spoken 
of  in  my  presence." 

"  Did  she  tell  you  at  least  where  this  Count  Halphertius  is 
living?" 

"  No.  But  I  know  that  he  was  to  start  for  London  yester- 
day. That  is  why  I  ran  alongside  before  I  put  the  flea  in 
your  ear." 

"It  is  very  evident  the  Italian  woman  is  gone  off"  to  join 
him." 

"You  may  very  likely  be  right." 

"A  pretty  mess  you  have  made  of  it !  "  said  RonqueroUes 
as  he  rose. 

"Indeed!"  said  Jacqueline  insolently.  "And  were  you 
never  checkmated  in  your  diplomatic  business?" 

"Do  you  suppose  you  will  get  any  more  exact  informa- 
tion?" 

"  We  will  see,"  said  she.  It  was  her  formula  for  promising 
her  assistance. 

"But  no  underhand  tricks,"  cried  the  marquis.  "You 
know  I  do  not  understand  a  joke." 


400  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"Will  the  case  be  brought  before  the  Chamber  of  Peers?" 
said  Madame  de  Saint-Esteve,  who  was  not  a  woman  to  be 
easily  daunted. 

Without  answering  this  piece  of  insolence,  RonqueroUes 
only  remarked : 

"You  might  perhaps  desire  your  nephew  to  help  in  your 
inquiries." 

"Yes,"  said  Jacqueline;  "I  think  it  would  not  be  amiss 
to  tell  him  something  about  the  matter — without  naming  you, 
of  course." 

"And  if  at  any  time  I  can  be  of  use  to  him  with  his  chief, 
you  know,  I  am  as  stanch  a  friend  as  I  am  a  dangerous 
foe." 

Thereupon  Madame  de  Saint-Estdve  and  her  client  parted, 
and  as  soon  as  the  enemy's  coach-wheels  were  heard  in  the 
distance,  the  virtuous  matron  had  no  occasion  to  go  in  search 
of  her  nephew.  He  had  gone  Yound  by  a  back  passage,  and 
come  to  wait  in  the  room  behind  the  drawing-room,  whence 
he  had  overheard  everything. 

"  You  tricked  him  neatly  !  "  said  Vautrin.  "  We  will  con- 
trive by  little  scraps  of  information  to  keep  his  head  in  the 
trough  for  a  few  days  longer ;  but  now  go  at  once  and  fetch 
our  *  Helen,'  for  unless  it  is  too  late  you  ought  to  introduce 
us." 

"Be  easy;  I  will  settle  that,"  said  his  aunt,  who  a  minute 
later  came  back  with  the  handsome  housekeeper. 

"Signora  Luigia — Monsieur  le  Comte  Halphertius,"  said 
she,  introducing  them  to  each  other. 

"Signora,"  said  Vautrin  in  the  most  respectful  tone,  **  my 
friend  Madame  de  Saint-Esteve  tells  me  you  will  permic  me 
to  take  some  interest  for  your  affairs " 

"Madame  de  Saint-Esteve,"  replied  Luigia,  who  had 
learned  to  speak  French  perfectly,  "  has  spoken  of  you  as  a 
man  with  a  great  knowledge  of  art." 

"  That  is  to  say,  I  am  passionately  devoted  to  it,  and  my 


TltE^EPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  401 

fortune  allows  me  to  do  all  I  can  to  encourage  it.     You,  mad- 
ame,  have  a  splendid  gift." 

"  That  remains  to  be  proved,  if  I  am  so  foitunate  as  to  get 
a  chance  of  being  heard." 

"  You  may  come  out  when  you  choose.  I  have  seen  the 
manager  of  the  Italians  theatre  in  London ;  he  shall  hear  you 
to-morrow — it  is  settled." 

"  I  am  deeply  grateful  for  the  trouble  you  have  been  so  good 
as  to  take ;  but  before  accepting  your  kind  oflSces,  I  wish  to 
come  to  a  clear  understanding." 

"  I  love  to  be  frank,"  said  Vautrin. 

**I  am  poor  and  alone  in  the  world,"  said  Luigia;  "I  am 
considered  good-looking,  and  at  any  rate  I  am  young.  It  be- 
hooves me,  therefore,  to  be  circumspect  in  accepting  the  eager 
benevolence  that  is  shown  me.  In  France,  I  am  told,  it  is 
rarely  disinterested." 

"  Disinterestedness,"  said  Vautrin,  "I  shall  promise.  But 
as  to  hindering  tongues  of  talking — I  shall  not  promise." 

"Oh  !  as  for  talk,"  said  his  aunt,  '*  that  you  may  make  up 
your  mind  to.  Monsieur  le  Conite's  age  even  will  not  stop 
their  wagging — for,  in  fact,  a  younger  man  is  more  likely  to 

devote  himself  to  a  woman  without  any  idea  of In  Paris 

your  old  bachelors  are  all  reprobates  !  " 

"  I  shall  not  have  ideas,"  said  Vautrin.  "  If  I  am  so  happy 
to  be  of  use  for  the  signora,  which  I  admire  her  talent  so 
much,  she  shall  let  me  be  her  friend ;  but  if  I  fail  in  my  re- 
spect to  her,  she  shall  be  independent  for  that  talent,  and 
she  shall  turn  me  out  of  her  door  like  a  servant  that  shall  rob 
her." 

"And  I  hear,  Monsieur  le  Comte,  that  you  have  already 
been  kind  enough  to  inquire  about  an  engagement  for  me?  " 

"It  is  almost  settled,"  said  Vautrin.     "To-morrow  you 
shall  sing  ;  and  if  your  voice  shall  satisfy  the  manager  of  the 
Italians  in  London,  it  is  fifty  thousand  francs  for  the  rest  of 
the  season." 
26 


402  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

"It  is  a  dream,"  said  Luigia.  "And  perhaps  when  he 
shall  have  heard  me " 

"  He  will  be  of  the  same  opinion  as  that  Monsieur  Jacques 
Bricheteau,"  replied  Jacqueline.  "He  said  you  had  sixty 
thousand  francs  in  your  voice — so  you  are  still  robbed  of  ten 
thousand  francs." 

"  Oh  !  as  to  his  promise  to  pay  fifty  thousand  francs  as  soon 
as  he  has  heard  you,"  said  Vautrin,  "  I  have  no  fear.  Then 
to  pay  them — that  is  another  thing.  He  wants  money,  they 
say.  But  we  will  have  the  agreement  made  by  some  clever 
man,  Madame  de  Saint-Esteve  shall  find  him ;  and  the  signora 
shall  not  have  to  think  about  the  money — that  is  her  friend's 
concern.     She  shall  think  only  of  her  parts." 

Vautrin,  as  he  said :   "  Then  to  pay  them — that  is  another 

thing "   had  managed  to  touch  his  aunt's  foot  with  his 

own.     She  understood. 

"  On  the  contrary,"  said  she,  "I  believe  he  will  pay  very 
punctually.  He  will  not  care  to  quarrel  with  us,  my  dear 
count.  It  is  not  every  day  that  you  come  across  a  man  who, 
to  secure  an  engagement,  is  ready  to  risk  a  sum  of  a  hundred 
thousand  crowns." 

"  What,  monsieur  !  you  are  prepared  to  make  such  a  sacri- 
fice for  my  sake  !     I  can  never  allow  it " 

"  My  good  Madame  de  Saint-Estfeve,"  said  Vautrin,  "you 
are  a  tell-tale.  I  am  risking  nothing  ;  I  have  looked  into  the 
matter,  and  at  the  end  of  the  season  I  shall  have  my  benefits ; 
beside,  I  am  v-e-ery  rich,  I  am  a  widower,  I  have  not  children ; 
and  if  part  of  that  money  shall  be  lost,  I  shall  not  for  that 
hang  myself." 

"  Nevertheless,  monsieur,  I  will  not  permit  such  a  piece  of 
folly." 

"  Then  you  do  not  want  me  for  your  friend,  and  you  are 
afraid  you  shall  be  compromised  if  I  help  you?  " 

"  In  Italy,  monsieur,  such  a  protector  is  quite  recognized ; 
fUJcJ  so  long  as  there  is  nothing  wrong,  nobody  cares  for  gp- 


T^E  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 


403 


pearances ;  but  I  cannot  entertain  the  idea  of  allowing  you  to 
risk  so  large  a  sum  on  my  account." 

"If  it  were  a  risk,  no.  But  the  risk  is  so  small  that  your 
engagement  and  the  hundred  thousand  crowns  are  two  sepa- 
rate things,  and  I  shall  enter  into  partnership  with  the  director 
even  if  you  refuse." 

"  Come,  come,  pretty  one,"  said  Jacqueline,  "you  must 
make  up  your  mind  to  owe  this  service  to  my  friend  Hal- 
phertius ;  you  know  that  if  I  thought  it  was  likely  to  carry  you 
further  than  you  think  quite  right,  I  should  have  nothing  to 
do  with  it.  Talk  it  over  with  your  confessor,  and  you  will 
see  what  he  says  about  it." 

"  I  would  in  Italy  ;  but  in  France  I  should  not  consult  him 
about  a  theatrical  engagement." 

"Well,  then,  signora,"  said  Vautrin,  in  the  kindest  way, 
"consider  your  career  as  an  artist.  It  lies  before  you,  a 
splendid  road  !  And  when  every  paper  in  Europe  is  full  of 
the  Diva  Luigia,  there  will  be  a  good  many  people  greatly 
vexed  to  think  that  they  failed  to  recognize  so  great  an  artist, 
and  to  keep  on  friendly  terms  with  her." 

Vautrin  knew  men's  minds  too  well  not  to  have  calculated 
the  effect  of  this  allusion  to  the  secret  sorrow  of  the  Italian 
girl's  heart.  The  poor  woman's  eyes  flashed,  and  she  gasped 
for  breath. 

"  Monsieur  le  Comte,"  said  she,  "  may  I  really  trust  you?  " 

"  Undoubtedly ;  and  all  the  more  so,  because  if  I  spend  the 
money,  I  expect  to  get  some  little  return." 

"And  that  is ?"  said  Luigia. 

"That  you  show  me  some  kind  feeling;  that  the  world 
shall  believe  me  to  be  happier  than  I  really  shall  be;  and  that 
you  do  nothing  to  deprive  me  of  that  little  sop  to  my  pride, 
with  which  I  promise  to  be  content." 

"  I  do  not  quite  understand,"  said  the  Italian,  knitting  her 
brows. 

"And  yet  nothing  can  be  plainer,"  said  Madame  de  Saint- 


404  THE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS. 

Estdve.  **  My  friend  here  does  not  wish  to  look  a  fool ;  and 
if  while  he  is  visibly  your  protector  you  were  to  take  up  with 
your  deputy  again,  or  fall  in  love  with  somebody  else,  his 
part,  as  you  may  understand,  would  not  be  a  handsome  one." 

"  I  shall  never  be  anything  to  the  count  but  a  grateful  and 
sincere  friend,"  said  Luigia.  "But  I  shall  be  no  more  for 
any  other  man — especially  for  the  man  of  whom  you  speak. 
I  did  not  break  up  my  life,  dear  madame,  without  due  con- 
sideration." 

"But  you  see,  my  dear,"  said  the  old  woman,  thus  showing 
a  profound  knowledge  of  the  human  heart,  "  that  the  men  of 
whom  we  declare  that  we  have  washed  our  hands  are  often 
just  the  most  dangerous." 

"You  speak  as  a  Frenchwoman,  madame,"  said  the  Italian. 

"  Then  to-morrow,"  said  Vautrin,  "  I  have  your  permission 
to  come  for  you  and  take  you  to  meet  this  manager?  Of 
course,  you  know  many  of  the  parts  in  stock  operas?" 

"I  know  all  the  parts  taken  by  Malibran  and  Pasta,"  said 
Luigia,  who  had  been  studying  indefatigably  for  two  years 
past. 

"And  you  will  not  change  your  mind  in  the  course  of  the 
night?"  said  Vautrin  insinuatingly. 

"Here  is  my  hand  on  it,"  said  Luigia,  with  artless  frank- 
ness. "  I  do  not  know  whether  bargains  are  ratified  so  in 
France." 

"Ah,  Diva,  Diva  !  "  cried  Vautrin,  with  the  most  burlesque 
caricature  of  dilettante  admiration ;  and  he  lightly  touched 
the  fair  hand  he  held  with  his  lips. 

When  we  remember  the  terrible  secret  of  this  man's  past 
life,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  Human  Comedy — nay,  I 
should  say.  Human  Life — has  some  strange  doublings. 

The  success  of  the  singer's  trial  was  far  beyond  Vautrin's 
expectations.  The  hearers  were  unanimously  in  favor  of 
Luigia's  engagement.  Nay,  if  they  had  listened  to  Sir  Francis 
Drake,  it  would  have  been  signed  then  and  there,  and  the 


"^HE  DEPUTY  FOR  ARCIS.  4» 

singer  would  have  set  out  the  same  day  for  London,  where, 
owing  to  la  Serboni's  illness,  her  majesty's  theatre  was  in 
great  straits. 

As  he  was  starting  for  England,  he  said  to  his  aunt — 

"To-day  is  the  17th  of  May;  at  seven  in  the  evening  on 
the  2ist,  I  shall  be  back  in  Paris  with  Sir  Francis  Drake. 
Meanwhile  take  care  that  our  protege  is  provided  with  a 
suitable  outfit.  No  absurd  magnificence,  as  if  you  were  dress- 
ing up  a  courtesan,  but  handsome  things  in  the  best  style,  not 
loud  or  too  startling  to  the  signora's  good  taste.  In  short, 
just  what  you  would  buy  for  your  daughter,  if  you  had  one, 
and  she  were  going  to  be  married. 

"For  that  same  day,  the  21st,  order  a  dinner  for  fifteen 
from  Chevet.  The  party  will  consist  of  the  leaders  of  the 
press;  your  client  Bixiou  will  get  them  together.  You,  of 
course,  as  mistress  of  the  house;  but  I  entreat  you,  dress 
quietly — nothing  to  scare  the  guests.  Then  I  must  have  a 
clever  man  of  business  to  look  through  the  papers  before  we 
sign,  and  a  pianist  to  accompany  the  Diva,  who  shall  sing  us 
something  after  dinner.  You  must  prepare  her  to  give  a  taste 
of  her  best  quality  to  all  those  trumpeters  of  fame.  Sir 
Francis  Drake  and  I  make  the  party  up  to  fifteen.  I  need 
not  say  that  it  is  your  friend  Count  Halphertius  who  gives  the 
dinner  at  your  house,  because  he  has  none  of  his  own  in  Paris ; 
and  everything  is  to  be  of  the  best,  elegant  and  refined,  that 
it  may  be  talked  about  everywhere." 

After  giving  these  instructions,  Vautrin  got  into  a  post- 
chaise,  knowing  Jacqueline  Collin  well  enough  to  feel  sure 
that  his  orders  would  be  carried  out  with  intelligence  and 
punctuality. 


END  OF  PART  I. 


UCSR  LIBRARY 


,  il^ 

A    000  525  469" 


